


Fallen Angels

by vminsure



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Bane Chronicles - Sarah Rees Brennan & Cassandra Clare & Maureen Johnson, The Dark Artifices Series - Cassandra Clare, The Mortal Instruments (Movies), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alec Lightwood & Jace Wayland Friendship, Anal Sex, Background Clary Fray/Jace Wayland, Bisexual Male Character, Bottom Alec Lightwood, Bottom Magnus Bane, Fluff and Smut, Gay Male Character, Gay Sex, M/M, Magnus works at a flowershop, Mark and Alec used to date, Marriage Proposal, Max is alive, Memory Loss, Smut, Sweet Alec Lightwood, Top Alec Lightwood, Top Magnus Bane, alternative universe, but it has a happy ending, f/f relationship, f/m relationship, it gets a bit angst, magnus is a mundane
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-04
Updated: 2017-08-31
Packaged: 2018-11-08 19:00:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 64,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11087922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vminsure/pseuds/vminsure
Summary: Alexander Lightwood deserved to be loved, deserved to feel loved and there was no one better than Magnus Bane to make it happen.





	1. Magnolia

**_Magnolia_ **

 

_Love for the nature, sympathy, dignity, splendorous beauty._

 

Jace, Clary, Julian and Emma had left to finish planning the wedding, they had chosen to do both marriages at the same time and in the mundane style, so they had more work to do and left the kids to Alec and Mark to take care of, which It didn't work well because in less than twenty minutes Max and Livvy had disappeared, Tavvy had gone into the kitchen and poured all the food pots on top of him making Mark have to go bathe him. 

Simon and Isabelle had gone out on a date before the two couples, so it was literally everything to Alec and Mark to do.

Alec watched Ty and Kit in a corner laughing over something and he thought about how he missed being fifteen, and eventually realized that his fifteen's had been ten years ago, which was totally odd to him. Tavvy came running with a doll in the room and Alec saw Mark coming through the door, and the older Blackthorn sat down next to Alec. 

"Always remember me never to leave Octavian playing alone in the kitchen again." Mark said making a funny face and Alec laughed.

"I said you shouldn't have left him in the kitchen, but you never listen to me." Alec says taking his hands off his pockets and Mark rolled his eyes.

  
"Can you stop being the  _Mr. Knows It All_ for at least two minutes?" Mark said and Alec narrowed his eyes.

"No." Alec said getting closer to Mark, who looked at the children before leaving a little kiss on Alec's lips.

"Why did we start dating again? I really don't remember." Mark said as he watched Alec laugh openly after seeing a patch of tomato sauce on Mark's T-shirt.

"Because I'm incredible."

"You're a pain in the ass, Lightwood."

Mark and Alec were dating for a little over a year, before that they were inseparable friends, much like Alec and his parabatai, Jace, but while Jace and Alec were the kind of friendships they consider to be siblings, Mark and Alec had a playful friendship.

"That too." Alec shrugged, Mark took his hand and stared at Alec.

"I want to talk to you. It's kinda important." Mark said and Alec frowned, finding it odd.

"What happened?" Alec asked seriously.

"Not here." Mark murmured looking at the children. "They won't kill themselves if they stay five minutes alone. At least I think so"

"Okay, let's go to the library, we can talk there." Alec said getting up from the bench and releasing Mark's hand, which followed him silently to the library.

The Lightwood was startled when he opened the library door. Max and Livvy were kissing excitedly against the main table. Max's hands were all over Livvy's body, while the girl keep her hands on his shoulders. 

" _Max Lightwood_ , what is this?" Alec said and Mark flushed, seeing his younger sister kissing a boy was not the greatest of his fantasies, in fact, it was none of his fantasies.

Livvy and Max jumped up, the girl's cheeks flushed and Max's eyes were wide-open, Alec crossed his arms against his chest as he stared at them.

"How ugly, Max. Fled to get caught up with Olivia?" Max looked from Livvy to Mark and Mark to Alec.

"But what the he...?" Max said awkwardly.

"Get out of here you two and keep your clothes on!" Alec said and they both nodded.

"They're growing." Mark said as Livvy and Max left the library quickly.

"That's true, but what did you want to tell me?" Alec asked, looking at Mark, who looked serious at the moment.

"Alec... I don't know how to say this, because I don't know how it happened, it's not like I was looking for it or whatever I know, it sort of happened and I just want you to know that I love you and I..."Alec interrupted him.

"Where do you want to go with this?" Alec asked lost.

"I met someone." Mark said staring at the floor.

Alec was startled, he didn't think that was is. Although he knew their relationship was more for two friends who occasionally have sex than a conventional boyfriend and boyfriend situation, but he didn't think Mark was going to cheat on him.

"Before you think, no, I did _not_ cheat you, I wouldn't do something like that to you. I'm not like that." Mark said quickly realizing Alec's features.

"Who?" Alec shook his head, thinking to rephrase the question. "Who did you meet?"

"Do you know Kieran? The one that you saw talking to Emma the other day?" Mark asked and Alec nodded, he remembered Kieran, the fairy boy who had navy blue hair. "It's him."

"Oh, him... So... Do you really like him?" Alec said looking up at Mark.

"I love him." Mark said and felt her cheeks flushing, Alec thought it was cute.

"I wasn't expecting that... I really did not expect that, but would you be happy with him?" Alec asked, putting his hands in the pockets of his pants.

"Yes and I wanted to talk to you before I settled anything with him, because you deserve at least an explanation." Mark pursed his lips and saw a smirk on Alec. "You're not angry?"

"Why would I be? I understand, Mark, and we were more for a friendship with benefits than a normal relationship." Alec said and Mark hugged him.

"Alec, did I ever say I love you today?" Mark spoke with a huge smile on his face.

"Yes, but I would not mind hearing it again." Alec spoke and Mark rolled his eyes.

"You're so modest, Lightwood, so I'm gonna call him." Mark said coming out of the library, in the moment the Blackthorn left, the smile on Alec's lips disappeared.

Lightwood sat on the floor, his back against the wall. He always did this, always putting the happiness of others above his own. It's not like he loves Mark like that, but he felt safe and liked him a lot, he felt happy, or at least he used to think so. But if that happiness was not reciprocal, why insist on their relationship? Of course they would remain friends, it would be better that way than ruin everything and great trapped in a terrible relationship. 

Alec was just tired of always doing this; he had to learn to be more selfish. The shadowhunter swallowed dry and lifted off the ground. He passed his hand around his pants to remove the dust and left the room. 

He felt his cell vibrating, put his hand in his pocket and pulled it out, the name Izzy shinning on the screen. He pressed the green button and picked it up.

_"Alec, thank Raziel! I'm calling the Institute's phone, but you didn't answer, I thought someone had set fire in the whole Institute and you were all dead."_

**"Do not overthink everything, Isabelle. What happened?"**

_"So, Clary sent me a message, asking me to go to the flower shop to give the address of the wedding hall, but turns out I'm not in New York at the moment."_

**"And where are you?"**

_"That's not the case right now, dear brother."_  She said and Alec could swear he saw Isabelle smiling on his head _"I was wondering if you could go there? I already told Clary you would, she even called there and gave your name to the attendant, and Mark can keep everyone there, It's not like there's three-year-olds running the Institute."_ No, but there was a really eletric seven year old and two teenagers making out in any place they could find. 

**"Izzy, you're a terrible person."**

_"But you love me, are you going or what?"_

**"I'm going, Izzy, send me the flower shop address by SMS."**

_"I love you, Alec, I don't know what I would do without you"_ Izzy said excitedly and ended the call.

Alec went to his room and changed his clothes, after all, he was in pajamas that looked very embarrassing to go out on the street. He put on a pair of black jeans and a red polo t-shirt. He left his hair messed up as usual and put on a gray vans. He put his cell phone in his jeans pocket, after reading Izzy's SMS with the florist's address, which was not too far from the Institute.

He left his bedroom and went into the living room, where everyone was. He found Mark on the bench where the two of them were a few minutes ago and walked over to him.

"Where are you going?" Mark asked when he saw Alec.

"Solve something for Clary and Emma, you can take care of them by yourself, right?" Alec asked, staring at Mark.

"Oh, of course, just don't come back too late, because I can't guarantee you won't find the Institute on fire when you return." Mark said raising an eyebrow.

"Thank goodness the number of the firefighters is on automatic dialing." Alec said and left. He put on his headphones as he walked through the doors of the Institute.

The streets of New York were busy and stuffy, probably because they were late spring. Alec felt his pores warm and thanked him for having spent quite a bit of antiperspirant before leaving home. He walked a few blocks to the street Izzy had sent him. He looked for the number, which turned out to be practically at the end of that street and finally read the name Bane's Floriculte at number 221.

It was a clear painting building with faded transparent doors, there were a few stalls with colorful flowers on the door, a girl, at the age of sixteen, was looking at the flowers and attending to the people standing there. 

Alec crossed the street and stopped in front of the establishment, the girl, who now the name he could read on his badge, _Amber_ , said a good afternoon really excited, Alec answered after taking off his headphones and entered the store.

The smell was of pure nature. Thousands of flowers and incense, the earth just after a long storm. The interior of the store was large with walls painted with different colors making a beautiful contrast with the flowers. Alec noticed himself watching one of the benches, which was full of purple and yellow flowers, he thought they were beautiful and he didn't use to think about the nature's beautify besides the rainy nights of an autumn season. 

"Those are violets, I think after roses and daisies they are the best known by the public, they are very resistant and can adapt to all kinds of places." A man, at least twenty-six years old, stood beside him and said this by pointing to the flowers Alec was looking at.

"And those here?" Alec asked pointing to another type of flower, as he looked at the boy next to him, who had a smile on his lips and a beautiful eye-smile on his asian eyes.

"These are called Hydrangea, they can be blue, pink or purple, depending on the quality of the soil, but they're beautiful in all three ways. But the ones I really think are wonderful are those... "The boy took two steps towards the benches, standing in front of another group of flowers "They're Lentens, they have this name because they're usually born in the period of Catholic Lent."

"Oh, that's interesting, and these are Tulips, right?" Alec said looking at the group of flowers he saw next. He remembered Jace saying something about Tulips being Clary's favorite kind of flower and asking him to help him choose some for when he was going to propose to her. 

"Yes, they are Tulips, and the last ones are Roses, very rare to be found in the purple color, but they are so beautiful, but the flower I most appreciate is that." He said taking a yellow flower from his bouquet and handing it to Alec.

"What is it called?" Alec asked looking at the flower.

"It's a Dahlia. The flower, in general, means harmony, knowledge in kindness, but yellow means corresponded love." Alec smiled and looked at the attendant.

"You're here giving me a flower class and I did not even say my name. Alec, Alexander Lightwood." Alec said holding out his hand, which was not with the flower, and the flower-boy squeezed it.

"Magnus Bane."

"Bane like Bane's Floriculture?"

"Yeah, my parents own here, but what can I do for you?" Magnus said looking at Alec's confused expression.

"My sister-in-law asked me to come in with the new delivery address, it looks like she changed the salon and was not able to come here to change, she even called earlier today."

"Oh, sure, follow me." Magnus said and Alec did, followed him to the counter at the end of the shop. "What is her name?"

"Clarissa Morgenstern." Alec said still looking at the flower, he had found it beautiful. Magnus nodded and picked up a clipboard.

"You put the new address here, and sign your name underneath." Magnus said raising his beautiful light brown eyes to look at Alec as he handed him the clipboard and a pen.

Alec placed the flower on the counter and took what Magnus was handing him, looked at the names Jonathan Herondale, Clarissa Morgenstern, Emma Carstairs and Julian Blackthorn on the paper, put the new address and signed his name quickly, returned the pen and the clipboard to Magnus.

"It was just that?" Alec asked, watching Magnus jot down something and then stop.

"Yeah, now it's just me putting it into the system, nothing complicated." Magnus said and handed a paper to Alec. "On the day of delivery, just show this paper here, along with proof of purchase."

"Uh, okay." Alec slipped the paper into the back pocket of his jeans. "I want to keep this flower, how much do I owe you?"

"Take it as a gif. Do you want me to put it in a vase so it will not wither?" Magnus replied smiling, he liked it when people enjoyed flowers, especially when the person was a totally attractive man.

"Yes,  I would like that." Alec said handing the flower to Magnus.

"Just wait a minute." Magnus said and disappeared through a red door behind the counter.

The minute Magnus passed behind that door, Alec picked up his cell phone and texted Clary that he had already gone to the flower shop and updated the address. When Alec put away his cell phone, Magnus returned, the flower was in a white vase.

"In here." Magnus handed the jug with the flower to Alec. "Take care of her." He was smiling. Alec found adorable that Magnus called a with a persons pronoun.

"Thank you." Alec took the flower and admired it.

"Remember me every time you look at it." Magnus said as Alec was walking through the door of the store, without turning back, Alec smiled tooking the way back to the Institute.


	2. Primula

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for your kudos <3

**_Primula_ **

 

_Balance, objectivity, support, youth, young love_

 

When he arrived at the Institute, Alec found Mark, Ty and Livvy in the black uniform of the shadowhunters and placing runes on their skin.

"What happened?" Alec asked seriously.

"Something about vampires invading a werewolf build. No need to worry, Livvy, Ty and I can take care of it. "Mark said putting his stele on his belt.

"Okay, then," Alec said and went to his room.

He threw his cell phone on the bed and pulled the curtain out of the window, letting the sunbeams into his room. He placed the vase with the yellow flower that the attendant had given him. He picked up some water in the bathroom and out in the flower.

He took off his tight jeans and T-shirt. He put on a comfortable shorts and a regatta that had been made out of an old sweater. He left the room, closing the door behind him.

In quick steps he reached the room where Dru, Kit, and Max looked bored, and Tavvy could not care less about playing with his Captain America and Spider-Man dolls.

"Hey, guys. What do you think about watching a movie? While they are not coming back? "Alec said getting attention from the four.

"I can make popcorn," Max said getting up and out the hall.

"Come, let's choose the movie." Alec went to the bookshelf and opened the drawer with movies, placed them all on the coffee table.

"How about this?" Alec said pointing to The Breakfast Club and Drusilla said no.

"Emma's already made everyone watch this movie, like, thirty times. Also a big no to Sherlock Holmes, Ty has already put everyone to watch all the movies, the BBC series and anything else that involves Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. I think even that horrible CBS show he watched. "Dru grimaced.

"This one then." Alec said taking a DVD and showing it to Dru.

"Max's going to say it's a girly movvie," Kit murmured, looking at the title on the cover.

"And I'll say he's sexist because this movie is cute." Dru grinned at Kit who shrugged and settled on the couch. 

Max shouted from the kitchen to someone come and help him with the popcorn and Alec went, leaving Dru putting the DVD on the set.

"Which one did you choose?" Max said giving Alec two bowls.

" _Nomi and Ely's No Kiss List_ ," Alec said and Max frowned.

"I've never heard of it," he said, picking up the rest of the canisters.

"It's cool, let me ask you a question." Alec said and Max looked at him "You and Livvy, is it something serious? "Alec asked and Max's ears got red.

"Don't know. I mean, I like her a lot, but it's all very new, you know? "Max muttered and Alec nodded, wishing him luck.

The two of them went into the living room and handed the popcorn pots. Alec called Tavvy and left him sitting next to him on the couch, played start on the DVD, and the movie started quickly.

By the time the movie was over, Tavvy had fallen asleep and Alec took him to his room. He closed the door slowly, letting it a bit open and went out into the hall. He was not born to look after a bunch of teenagers at all.

Alec set everyone to clean the living room and kitchen, when they finished, Jace, Julian, Emma and Clary arrived. Clary's cheeks were redder than usual, making her freckles contrast.

"Alec, you're an angel! Thank you so much for coming to the Flower Shop for me." Clary said standing on tiptoe and hugging Alec, who had a quiet smile on his lips.

"It was nothing, Clary. I wasn't doing anything besides watching the kids, I'm going to get the receipt the attendant gave me." Alec said and Clary nodded, sitting on the couch and taking off her shoes.

Jace threw a look of agreement to Alec, who blinked in response and walked quickly to his room. He grabbed his trousers from the bed, put his hand in his pocket, and removed the paper from it. He left his pants on his bed and left the room.

In the living room, he handed the paper to Clary and another fell to the floor, Alec had not seen, but Jace bent down and picked up the paper.

"Alec, you let something fall here," Jace said with a laugh.

Alec took the paper from his hand and read it. It was written _Magnus Bane_ with a cute handwritten and a phone number, with a heart at the end. Alec turned completely red.

"I always knew you were pounding hearts wherever you went," Jace said and winked at his right eye. "But I didn't know that was that easy, Alec"

Alec didn't know where to stick his head.

 

The days passed quickly and soon the Friday arrived, the wedding would be on Saturday. Clary and Emma had Alec to stay in the drawing room to receive the flowers, which he thought had to do with the phone number he had received from Magnus Bane.

Alec didn't call Magnus, he thought it was too early to try to get involved with someone else, after all, he broke up with Mark last week, though he found the brunette in the Flower Shop extremely attractive.

A voice appeared in his head saying that he couldn't get so involved with a mundane, the laws of the Clave were serious.

Nephilims could be involved with mundanes, but never something that turned to be so deep, not to the point of being a love, if this happened, the mundane would have to submit to the Nephilim marks to become a Shadowhunter, or the Shadowhunter would have to give up his marks and all his memories about the shadow world.

Alec remembered two cases in which this happened. _Edmund Herondale_ and _Bianca Carstairs_. They used to tell these stories while the child Nephilims were being trained, so that this did not happen, but nonetheless, it happened.

The Lightwood heard the doorbell ring, got up from his chair, and went to the door. He opened it and faced Magnus.

"Oh, hi," Alec said, smiling. The boy at the door looked confused.

"I didn't expect to see you here, but anyway, I'll deliver the flowers. Do you have the receipt? "Magnus asked, taking a pen from his pocket.

"Yes, I have. Here, "Alec muttered, handing the paper over to Magnus.

"Can you help me? It's a lot of flowers and I just can't do it all by myself. "Magnus said returning the paper to Alec, after writing something on it. "Otherwise is gonna take the whole afternoon."

"Oh, of course," Alec said, putting the paper away again.

Alec went out the door and followed Magnus to the small white truck that was in front of the salon, in it had written the name of the floriculture. Magnus took a key and opened the trunk of the truck revealing various floral arrangements.

"I'm going to get them, you put them on the ground and then we both take you inside, okay?" Magnus said as he climbed into the truck, his long hair was in his eyes, Alec just nodded and picked up the branch that Magnus was handing to him.

"So, Magnus, I'm sorry I didn't call you. I didn't have time, "Alec said without looking at the brunette.

"No need to make excuses, okay? I know that I was rushing things too much. "Magnus had his back to him, but Alec imagined he had sighed. "Why did I think that you would want something with me? In fact, you could even be straight, because it's kind of hard to identify those days" Magnus muttered, handing two arrangements to Alec. 

The hunter laughed, leaving the arrangement on the floor, making Magnus turn to look at Alec with a frown.

"First, you didn't rush anything, I really liked you. And second, I'm not straight. "Alec said with his arms crossed in front of his chest. "I just... I didn't call you because I broke up a relationship last week, and I found it early to try to get involved with someone else, you know?"

"I think your ex is kinda crazy. Who would broke up with you?"Magnus said and Alec laughed.

"He was in love with someone else. I understand. "Alec said putting the other arrangements on the floor. "So, can you forgive me? For not calling you?"

"Of course, why not?" Alec smiled and the two finished taking the arrangements from the truck.

After a few trips, Alec and Magnus finished bringing the arrangements into the hall.

"You can leave it there, Clary and Emma are already going to come in with the decorators to define where each one will be." Isabelle blinked at Alec.

Magnus stabbed his back because of the continuous movement, he had spent all day delivering.

"Magnus, you... well, would you like to go get some coffee with me?" Alec asked, half-timidly, when they were on the sidewalk outside the salon.

"Right now?" Magnus asked, taking his hands from his pants pocket.

"Yeah, if you're not busy or anything." Alec said feeling his ears warmed, he was lousy at it.

"No, I'm not busy. That was the last delivery I had today. "Magnus said with a smile at the corner of his mouth. "So, I want to grab a coffee with you."

"I know a place nearby. I'll just hand the key to my sister, quick. "Alec said and Magnus nodded.

He stepped into the salon again, and found Isabelle on the phone, when she saw her brother, she put it away.

"Here," Alec said, handing the key to her.

"Why is that?" She asked, putting the key in the pocket of her dress.

"I... I'm going out with Magnus," Alec said and watched Isabelle's expression grow smiley.

"The guy from the floriculture? The one who gave you the phone number? "Izzy asked seeing Alec turn his back.

"Yeah, that one," Alec said as he was at the door.

"Good luck, little brother." Izzy shouted at Alec, who smiled in response and closed the door he had just passed.

Alec took a deep breath and went to where Magnus was, beside the white truck with his cell phone in his hands. When he saw Alec, he put it in his pocket.

They walked side by side to the cafeteria on the corner of the street. It was a very large establishment, and at that time it had a moderate movement.

Alec asked what Magnus wanted and went to the ordering desk, leaving Magnus at the table where they had chosen, Alec was the third in line and it was not long before to be attended to.

The nephilim felt the palm of his hands sweat, he had never gone on a first date. With Mark they started dating just after Mark stole a kiss from Alec when they had left a patrol at night. With Ethan, it was so fast and stupid that Alec did not even remember. And they were the only people with whom Alec had been involved since he'd discovered himself gay.

Alec lifted his eyes to Magnus, who was at the table next to the wall, he had a faint smile on his lips when he realized that Alec was watching him.

Alec's thoughts were a little confused, between his attraction to Magnus, who was definitely mutual, and Clave's law, but the part of the law was utterly broken when Alec saw the gleam in Magnus's eyes as he returned with the requests to the table.

The hunter never thought it was so easy and simple to be attracted to a person he barely knew because Ethan lived at the New York Institute together with Alec's family, Jace, Clary and Simon, he only moved to Idris after they broke up. Mark had been their friend since they were children.

But Magnus, _ah_ , Magnus, he had only met him that day at the Floriculture and the brown of his eyes never left his mind.

"Who's marrying?" Magnus said stirring the straw in his coffee, taking Alec out of his thoughts.

"My parab... my brother. Kinda foster brother, but still." Alec said and took a piece of cake to his mouth and Magnus was a bit confused.

"You have a big family then. I only have one sister. "Magnus said with a shrug and Alec blinked slowly.

"And I have. Two brothers and one sister and all younger, I'm never at peace. "

"And not bored," Magnus murmured and Alec smiled as he watched.

"That too, but what do you do? Just take care of your family's shop? "Alec asked timidly, he did not know what to ask.

He was almost sending a message to Izzy calling him saying he had an emergency, just for him to look at Google what to ask in the first meetings.

"No, I take care of the store in a few days, usually those who stay there are my parents and my sister. I go to college, I want to be a writer. "Magnus said dreamily.

Alec thought he was imagining himself on the New York Times bestselling list of authors, it was nice to watch someone with dreams. Shadowhunters were trained and bred to be cold people with both feet firmly on the ground, with no dreams or no goals at all, which was sad for Alec at times.

"And you?" Magnus asked looking up from his coffee to Alec.

Magnus noticed the bright dark blue in Lightwood's eyes, he thought from that moment that color was his favorite.

"Me? Well, I'm still kinda lost, you know? I don't know what I want. I'm a good archer, I could teach. "Alec said he thought he had no excuse to give him a hunter who worked at night behind vampires, werewolves, or fairies who transgressed the Clave law or looking for demons that mundane idiots conjured.

It was not a good idea to say _mundane idiots_ when you were on a first date with a mundane. Alec always knew he was clumsy, but that was the crux.

  
The rest of the date was totally quiet, apart from the part that Alec had to find things to omit the reality of his life, it was too soon for Magnus to discover that part of his life.

It was already past seven that night when Alec left Magnus at the door of his house, which was a couple blocks awat frin the Flower Shop.

"I hope it was not a total disaster. I'm horrible at these things. "Magnus said and Alec laughed.

"That's exactly what I was going to say." Magnus listened and bit his lip.

"It wasn't so bad, was it?" Alec nodded in agreement. It had not been bad at all, actually.

"I even liked it," Alec said as he approached Magnus. That's what you did at the end of dates, right? Alec had seen such scenes in romantic comedy movies.

"Yeah, it was fun," Magnus said.

Alec put his hand on Magnus' waist, leaving a seal on his lips. Magnus smiled with his eyes still closed, placed his hands on Alec's shoulders, pulling him into another kiss, this time a longer one.

When the two separated, Alec had a smile on his lips, that was really working.

"Wait here." Magnus said quietly and entered through the door of his house.

A few quick minutes passed and he came back with a pink flower in his hand. He handed it to Alec, who sniffed it and looked at Magnus.

"What does it mean?"

"She's a Jasmine. Jasmins usually mean love, modesty, delicate beauty, and grace, but this one here, the pink one, means joy. "Magnus replied, and Alec watched him with a smiling expression.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have to say
> 
>  
> 
> edmund herondale deserved better


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i didnt want to take simon off the story, because he's one of my favs so i really had to change from where he became a shadowhunter

**_Clove_ **

  
_Live love, admiration, preference, disdain, dislike, whim, pure love, naivete, innocence, talent, rejection, I can not be with you._

The tie was bothering Alec. He had never liked suits, it was very unpleasant, but since it was his parabatai marriage, he gave in a little.

The hall was already full, Julian and Jace were with their respective families. Alec realized that Mark had brought Kieran, which was a bit uncomfortable, but he tried to ignore it.

"Alec, Emma and Clary are coming in. Do you have the rings?" Jace asked coming close to Alec.

"No, I left it with Ty. I'll get it." Alec said rising from the chair, Jace nodded and watched Alec walk to the end of the room.

Alec remembered that he had seen Ty in the parlor garden area along with Kit. He walked quickly there and found him in a corner with the younger Herondale.

 _"Why did you say you wanted to be my friend if it was not true?"_ Ty said loudly, Alec realized he was angry.

Kit lowered his head and Ty continued to stare at him. Alec was close enough to hear Kit's heavy breathing.

"You would not understand," Kit said softly, making Ty roll his eyes.

"What's to understand, Kit?" Ty said looking at the blond from the corner of his eyes.

Kit took a deep breath, lifted from the murmur that was sitting and stood in front of Ty. The brunette lifted his blue eyes to Kit who put his hands on Ty's face and kissed him.

 _Oh, that's interesting._ Alec thought raising his eyebrow.

Ty was completely frightened and eventually pushed Kit. Herondale pressed his lips together and moved away from Ty.

"I... I found..." Kit began to hiss, but was stopped by Ty pulling him closer again and kissing him.

Alec began to feel uncomfortable and to look everywhere. He gave a false cough and the two boys split up. Kit and Ty were wide-eyed.

"Sorry to interrupt your time, but, Ty, I need the rings." Alec said, extremely uncomfortable with that.

Ty, whose cheeks were all red with embarrassment, reached into his jacket and pulled out two little boxes, a blue era with the embroidered Letter B of Blackthorn, and the other blood-red with the letter H embroidered and handed to Alec .

"Thank you and you guys should get in, the wedding's about to start." Alec murmured guarding the rings and turning away.

He walked quickly into the hall again and looked for Mark, who would be Julian and Emma's best man.

"The rings." Alec said giving the blue box to Mark, who had a shy smile on his lips.

He saw Kieran's gaze on him, it was a heavy, guilty look. Alec meant that he was not to blame for what had happened, even because we can not control feelings, it was something that just happened.

Alec replied with a forced grin and walked over to Jace, who paced back and forth, completely nervous.

"I got the rings." Alec said and Jace stopped in front of him.

"What if something goes wrong? What if she gives up?" Jace said too quickly.

"Jace, calm down, nothing's going to go wrong, okay? You and Clary love each other, she would never give up." Alec muttered, squeezing Jace's right shoulder, which hugged him. "Ouch, I was not expecting it."

"Thank you, Alec, for being here for me, it means a lot." Jace said and Alec was suspicious that between the two, the less gay that was him and he was really gay.

"It was nothing, Jace, I'm yours, where else would I be?"

"I do not know... You hate suits, I foresee you marrying with underpants and an old regatta." Jace said and winced. "Not a good thing to imagine, but anyway, even if you get married in your underwear I'll be there for you too."

"Thank you for that, I guess. But why this now, Jace?"

"I don't know, it must be the marriage affecting my neurons." Jace spoke and Alec rolled his eyes.

"You can get over it, Jace." Alec said and Izzy came running to the side of the two.

"They're here." She took a deep breath. "Go to the altar, you and Mark too, Alec, I'll get the boys out there." She said and turned her back on the street.

"I've already delivered Emma and Julian's rings to Mark." Alec said as he and Jace went side by side to the altar.

Jace and Julian stood side by side on the altar, facing the hallway. Alec and Mark were in one corner and Izzy, who would be Clary's maid of honor and had already returned, and Emma's godmother Cristina, stayed behind.

Clary entered first, arm in arm with her brother, Jonathan Morgenstern and Emma later, next to James Carstairs. The two delivered the bouquets to their respective maids of honor and the ceremony began.

_A rune on the hand,_

_a rune on the heart,_

_a union is born_

The Silent Brother said loudly, for the whole hall to listen. Jace and Julian designed the runes on their brides' arms, Emma and Clary did the same.

Clary's mother was crying beside Luke, James, who was the only living relative Emma had, smiled at her niece, but Julian always said that the Blackthorn were also his family.

The ceremony ended and the bride and groom went to do the reception. Alec went to a table to get the snacks, because he had been since early morning without eating anything with Isabelle in his ear.

The party lasted until late at night, when Jace and Clary went to the honeymoon in Hawaii, Emma and Julian were also, but Alec could not remember where theirs was.

Isabelle walked over to Alec with the high heels in her hand, her face already totally unpainted, taking out the black part in her eyes that had drained from the sweat.

"Let's go home?" Izzy said taking his arm.

"I thought you were with Simon." Alec said as they walked down the street, Luke and Jocelyn had been charged with closing the hall.

"He's going to stay with his family this weekend. It must be difficult for him to know, to have a mundane family while he's a Nephilim."

Alec took a deep breath, thinking about it, was it worth it? Drop your family to follow your destiny? Alec still did not know how Simon could be a Nephilim, Clary said something about his father being one and the gene passed to his son, but Alec did not remember right.

Moonlight lit the street along with poles, whose light was already getting dim, Alec thought the city hall should change the lights soon, otherwise that part of town would be out.

"I never had the opportunity to ask, how was the date with the Floriculture boy?" Izzy asked looking up at Alec, who pressed his lips into a smile.

It was true, Isabelle had not asked yet, which was unusual because Izzy had a terrible mania about wanting to know about the love life of others, but with the marriage she'd gotten quite busy, Alec wondered what it would be like when she herself be married

About the date, Alec had not stopped thinking about Magnus. He was totally interesting and excited, just looking at his beautiful brown eyes you wanted to smile and keep talking to him. Bane had a way with the words that Alec was completely delighted. It seemed all simple when Magnus spoke.

No, it was not possible to be so close to a person with a single date, Alec thought he was going crazy thinking about it. He was just... curious. Magnus was the first mundane with whom he stayed (not that Alec was interested in keeping any other warrant) and this was something new.

"It was good." Alec said ignoring his thoughts completely, seeing Alec, idiots.

"Is that all you're going to say? _It was good?_ I may be traveling a little bit because of alcohol, Alec, but you can still talk to me." Izzy said, raising her lips.

The drinks left people totally dehydrated. Isabelle made a mental note to ask Clary for a rune to stop it, which she probably would not remember, but it would be worth trying.

"What do you want me to say?" Alec asked frowning and Izzy snorted.

"I don't know, maybe about how nice he is, nice or your other things." She said and Alec looked away from Izzy for the cars passing by on the street.

"He's totally... Charming." Alec said and Izzy was totally confused.

"What do you mean by that?"

"He gives me flowers. At our date yesterday, he gave me a Jasmine, and when I went to the flower shop, a Dahlia."

The girl grinned as they crossed the street toward the Institute.

"Flowers have meanings." Izzy murmured and Alec raised an eyebrow.

"I know that, and he told me the meanings." Alec said opening the door of the Institute.

"He's cute then, Alec, do _not_ let him escape." Isabelle said letting go of Alec's arm and walking to her room.

Alec closed the door of the Institute and went to his room while he took off his tie. He left his clothes in the laundry basket to wash afterwards. After taking a long hot bath, she lay down on the bed and fell asleep quickly.

 

The other day, Alec woke up with her cell phone vibrating. He ran his hand through his eyes and took it from the nightstand. He looked at the time and it was just after ten o'clock in the morning.

 _"Hey, are you busy?"_ \- Magnus.

 **"Not really."** \- Alec.

 _"Can you meet me for breakfast? I promise I'll bring a flower."_ \- Magnus

 **"Sure, where?"** \- Alec

 _"I'll send you an SMS with the address."_ \- Magnus

 **"Okay, I'll change."** Alec said and Magnus murmured something he did not understand and the two ended the call.

Alec got out of bed and cracked his back, he slept like a rock. It was not so, since he had woken up the other day too soon and ended up going to bed late.

He dabbed at his face, brushed his teeth, and searched for acceptable clothing in his wardrobe, which turned out to be dark jeans and a black sweater. He left her hair straight and left the room with her cell phone in her pocket.

Everyone was still asleep, except for Max standing in the kitchen eating a cereal bar as he stared at the wall and Clary's brother, Jonathan, who was stirring something on the stove.

 

"Good Morning." Alec said taking a glass of water. Max looked at his brother.

  
"Goin' out?" He asked, biting the bar.

 

"Ye.l." Alec spoke as he sat on the kitchen counter.

"With that mundane... What's his name... Michael? No. _Magnus_. Isabelle told me." Jonathan said and Alec chuckled softly.

"Yeah, it's with him. Izzy's tongue is loose."

Alec said and noticed his cell phone vibrating, he reached into his pocket and took out his cell phone. It was a message from Magnus with the address.

"I'm going now, do not let everyone set fire to the Institute, especially the one there." Alec said pointing at Jonathan, who rolled his eyes and Max laughed and nodded.

Alec slipped the cell phone again, after looking at the address. It was close to the Floriculture of the Magnus family, that is, very close to the Institute. It was not twenty minutes before Alec arrived at the local.

Lightwood walked into the Starbucks and looked at the tables, found Magnus at one in the back of the cafeteria, moving his cell phone. The moment Alec approached, Magnus put away the cell phone and looked at him.

"Hi." Alec said, half shy, sitting in the chair in front of Magnus.

The Nephilim noticed the single red flower with the white tips on the table, Magnus smiled at Alec.

"Hi. I hope you do not mind, but I've already made the request for both of us." Magnus said handing the flower to Alec.

"Okay, there's nothing that I don't eat." Alec said looking at the flower.

"It's an alstroemeria, it means happiness. Some people call it a miniature lily, because it looks a bit like the lilies."

Alec had never been interested in flowers before, but something in Magnus made it all seem interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if i triggered someone with that jonathan-max scene 
> 
>  
> 
> im sorry


	4. Orchid

**Orchid**

 

_Beauty, lust, perfection, spiritual purity, refinement, magnificence._

 

It had been a little more than a month and two weeks that Alec and Magnus were going out, when the nephilim asked Magnus if he wanted to go to Montauk with him. Alec didn’t know if it was too soon, but it was just a trip to the beach, there was nothing too much about it.

It was July,  the middle of summer and the perfect time for a beach trip.

"It's going to be fun. I haven’t seen the beach in a long time." Alec said looking at the trees of Central Park, which had their leaves shaken by the slight wind that blew there.

"I can tell." Magnus said looking at Alec and laughing.

"What do you mean by that?" Alec asked looking down at his completely pale arms.

"I think you know." Magnus murmured, holding back the laughter.

"It’s not funny!" Alec said and Magnus went closer to the nephilim. "Not everyone has a natural tan, okay?" Magnus nodded and left a peck on Alec's lips.

"I'll come if you promise it won’t be weird with your family." Magnus said, and Alec frowned, trying to understand what he meant.

"Oh, no, of course not, they totally accept me, especially my siblings. And I'm not the only gay in the house, which is pretty funny, now that I think about it. There’s Aline and Helen, but they’re on a trip.”

"Oh, that's nice." Magnus said with a shy smile on the corner of his lips, Alec realized something was bothering him.

"Why? Is not it so... easy in your house?"

Alec could not find another word to define it, because it was not easy for anyone to be different and have to deal with it. Alec was lucky to have been born into a more open family, however much his mother had been a bit distant at first, she was the first person to hug Alec when Ethan left him.

"When I said I was bisexual to my parents, my dad did not take it well, you know? It was kind of difficult, but we already got over it." Magnus said and Alec bit his lip.

"And that's good, right?" Alec asked and Magnus nodded silently.

Alec realized that Magnus was not completely alright about family. It was obvious that, despite him saying that his father overcame it, there was still some heartache inside him. Alec wondered what had happened.

Putting his hands on Magnus' shoulders, Alec approached the boy and pressed his lips to his. Magnus left his hand on Alec's back, surrendering to the kiss.

 

On the day of the trip, Isabelle was more eager about meeting Magnus than going to the beach, Max thought it was Alec's fault because he was so descriptive about Magnus when he talked about him to their sister.

"Magnus doesn’t know I'm a Nephilim, so let's leave it that way, okay? When I think it's time, I'll tell him." Alec told everyone minutes before they found Magnus on the street.

The mundane wore a light red shirt, a pair of shorts, with the bars raised, blue and black sneakers, his hair was fluttering, and he had a black backpack that was on only one shoulder.

Alec got out of Simon's van and went to meet Magnus. Julian, Emma, Christina and the Blackthorn twins and Max, had gone in one van.  Alec, Simon, Isabelle, Clary, Jace, Dru and Jonathan were in Simon's van.

"Hi." Alec said leaving a peck on Magnus' lips.

"I still can _not_ believe I'm doing this. It would be easier if it was a dinner or something." Magnus said and Alec chuckled softly.

"Calm down, they won’t bite you." _They only kill demons, vampires, and any other Downworld creature that threatens human life, and they practice martial arts in their spare time, nothing too much_. Alec thought and decidedd it was better not to mention that right now.

"I trust you." Magnus said with his hands in the front pockets of his shorts.

"Come on." Alec said and reached for Magnus.

He opened the van door again and saw that Isabelle had jumped into the back seat where Jace was, and he was now in the front seat with Simon. He sat on his seat and Magnus sat beside him, and Alec slammed the door and noticed Simon starting the van.

"Guys, this is Magnus." Alec said putting on his belt, Magnus muttered a loud hi and everyone answered.

"I thought you were taller." Isabelle said and Alec rolled his eyes.

"This is Izzy, my annoying sister." Alec said and Izzy stuck out her tongue to him.

"You love me so much, Alec." Izzy said and Alec nodded, after looking at his sister.

The rest of the trip was far from quiet, Isabelle asked millions of questions to Magnus, and Alec just rolled his eyes.

They planned to stay the whole weekend in a nephilim house next to the Hamptons. Alec asked Julian and the Blackthorns to go ahead to cover any symbols, because of Magnus. They were not dating yet and Magnus didn’t need to find out that Alec was a Shadowhunter before it worked out.

"See how nobody bit you?" Alec said as they were already in the house, putting the backpack on the bed and sitting next to it.

"They're nice. I like your sister." Magnus said sitting next to Alec.

"Izzy almost asked what the color of your birth certificate is." Alec said frowning.

"I think it's green." Magnus said and Alec laughed. "I never paid attention to that, to tell you the truth."

Alec placed a hand on Magnus's neck and kissed him slowly, Magnus put his right hand on Alec's thigh and squeezed it, leaning into Alec.

 

"Alec, Jace is here ... Oh my God, I'm sorry, I'm serious, pretend I was never here." Mark said scared seeing Magnus and Alec.

Alec started to laugh, and Magnus, who was red-cheeked, lifted off him and bit his lip.

"Mark, learn to knock on the door." Alec said with a laugh. "What about Jace?"

"He's looking for you." Mark said without looking at them.

"I'll see what he wants, I won’t be long." Alec said squeezing Magnus's shoulder lightly and leaving the room with Mark.

Alec looked at Mark, who was beside him and started to laugh again.

"Alec, I hate you." Mark said crossing his arms. "It's not nice to catch people in that situation, you know that?"

"Yeah, I know."

"So, you and the flower guy, are you serious?" Mark said slapping his shoulder on Alec's arm.

"We're heading for it, I guess."

"You're happy, I can see that." Mark said and Alec sighed. "I have something to tell you."

"What's that?" Alec asked, pausing to walk and looking at Mark.

"I'm going back to California. The Clave offered me the job to head the Los Angeles Institute and I said yes."

"Oh, that .... that's good." Alec said, a little shaken.

"But that does not mean we're not going to see each other anymore, okay? I can always come to New York and you can show up whenever you want down there in Los Angeles to burn that white ass." Mark said slapping Alec's ass and slapped his arm.

"Idiot." Mark laughed and they continued walking. "Are your siblings going with you?"

"Julian and Emma, Dru and Tavvy, yes, but I think the twins will stay. They haven’t told me anything yet." Alec nodded and saw Jace in the living room.

"Don’t go without saying goodbye, okay?" Alec said and Mark muttered agreement and Alec went over to Jace.

Herondale was fumbling for something on his cell phone, and when he noticed Alec by his side, he put it away.

"What is it?" Alec asked and Jace got up from the couch.

"Demons in downtown." Jace said walking to his room with Alec by his side.

"You are pretty sure of yourself." Alec helped Jace open the suitcase with weapons they had brought. "Just the two of us?"

"We can handle this." Jace said giving the uniform to Alec.

"Magnus ... He's here." Alec said tightening his black clothes.

"Ask Clary or Izzy to say that you left with me to buy something, it shouldn’t take too long, we're good." Jace winked at Alec, who rolled his eyes and slipped on the shadowhunter's uniform.

The two placed their runes and Alec put his quiver on his shoulder. When Jace and Alec were leaving for downtown to go hunt the demon, they found Clary, Izzy, Christina, and Emma talking at the end of the house as they watched the sea, which was literally right in front of the house.

"Izzy, can you tell Magnus I went out with Jace? I left him in the room." Alec asked, squeezing his eyes because of the sun that was set on the horizon.

"Yes, I will, don’t worry." Izzy said taking off her sunglasses.

"You're going to leave and didn’t even bother to tell me. What a great husband I have." Clary glared at Jace.

"You know I love you, right?" Jace smiled at Clary, who murmured a _hum_ and look away to the sky and sea that was in front of her. "I'm sure when we get back to New York, you'll have lots of demons waiting for you." Jace said and walked away after hearing Clary mutter something in agreement.

When Jace and Alec arrived in the center of town, it was night. The strong light of the moon was the only thing that lit the streets, which was strange, since there were poles there, they were only disconnected. Several people were on the streets because it was a holiday season and the weather was hot and stuffy.

"Here's the address." Jace said pointing to the street above where they were standing. They walked quickly to the street.

The faint light of the single post that was not turned off blinked frantically, some children played to try to count how many blinks the light gave.

Because of the runes, the parabatai went unnoticed by the mundanes. Alec found this amusing.

At the end of the street, almost on another avenue, there was a nightclub that was open all day. Some people were running away and screaming. Teens were bruised and trying to get away.

Alec watched a woman who was covered with blood and a man trying to pick her up, but she, so frightened, would not let him.

"You two, there!"

A fluttering red-haired woman in a short, bright blue dress and high heels came close to Alec and Jace. She had no nephilim marks, much less scars from ancient runes, she couldn’t be a shadowhunter.

"I was the one who called you about the demon. Natalie Kate, High Warlock of Mountauk, but you can call me Nat." Said the nice girl, she had a strong accent, probably from somewhere in Europe.

"Alec, and this is my parabatai, Jace." Alec said looking away from the Warlock into the chaos on the street.

Alec blinked his eyes quickly, leaving his vision clearer. The woman had red hair and slightly purple skin, with only a little magic she could make it unnoticed.

"I heard that a bunch of nephilims were around here so I thought I'd better tell them because it's not really my area." She said looking at the people running down the street.

"Can you give us an update of what happened here?" Jace asked as the three of them walked to the nightclub, which was being evacuated by three tall security guards.

"Short explanation: Two mundane idiots found a spell book from the Iron Sisters and tried to summon a demon to Earth. I don’t know how they got it, and now the demon is wandering the streets of Montauk. It is a Greater demon, so I don’t think he’s going back to Hell on his own," she said as she wiggled her fingers, releasing red and black sparks to distract the security guards as Jace, Alec and she entered the nightclub.

"Why did you not notify the Clave?" Alec asked, pushing the large doors of the building.

"I was going to when I heard from you." Nat said going to a girl, about twenty-eight, who was hiding behind the bar. "What's your name, dear?"

"Lauren." The girl said with trembling lips.

"Did you see where that thing went?" Nat asked and the girl pointed to a door with the name No Entry. "I'll take her out and come back to help you."

Jace and Alec nodded, if the demon was really as strong and hideous as Natalie had said and as it seemed from the state of the people and the place, they would need a Warlock to send him back to Hell.

Natalie put her arm around Lauren, who was limping and murmured a few words silently to make the girl's pain lessen, so she didn’t notice.

Jace and Alec did not wait for Natalie and then they walked through the door, Alec with his bow in hand and Jace with his blade in hand. They were both side by side.

There was blood all over the floor and two male bodies thrown way. They had probably been killed before they were thrown to the ground.

The horrible scent of blood with sweat permeated the whole place. Alec could feel the fear of the people who were there in his skin. It was terrible.

The sound of breaking wood crackled through the room where they were, a single door was ajar.

"I’ll go first and then you follow me, okay?" Jace said quietly and Alec nodded.

The blonde walked slowly to the door, Alec was only a couple of paces behind him. Jace slowly pushed the door open and went through. Alec, as he passed, glanced quickly back and the only thing he saw was blood streaming down the walls.

He wasn’t scared, it was a normal thing to happen, especially when the case involved stupid mundanes that did not know how to control themselves and a demon loose on Earth.

The room they had entered was dark. The only gaps of light coming in there were holes in the wall, lack of maintenance, Alec thought.

Jace was pulled into the middle of this darkness, the tip of his blade eventually passing through Alec's leg and cutting it.

"Shit." Alec said taking his stele and drawing a quick and awkward iratze on his arm. He felt the bruise burn and heal slowly.

He threw the stele back in his pocket and the light was on, Alec's eyes burned at the sudden clarity. Jace was trapped by the claws of the demon, which was at least six feet high.

Alec pulled his bow quickly and shot arrows at the demon, as he was a great archer, although the demon tried to use Jace as a shield, he could still hit him.

One of the arrows fell in the middle of the four eyes of the demon, which ended up letting Jace down. Herodale coughed dry and got up, thrusting his blade into the demon's body. It let out a howl of pain.

Blood-red sparks enveloped the devil, making him choke and fall to the ground.

Natalie appeared next to Alec, who continued to shoot his sharp arrows into the demon, which howled in pain.

After Nat whispered a spell, and Jace hit his blade in where might be called the demon's heart, the demon disintegrated and all the arrows that hit the demon and Jace's blade fell to the ground.

Alec let out a sigh, and Jace went to get his blade. Natalie smiled and patted her palms.

"Not bad, is it?" The Warlock said with a shrug as the three of them stepped out of the room.

"What's being said in the media about this demon?" Alec asked putting his bow on his shoulder.

"Let's say a little purple bird told a journalist out there that it was a shooting." Nat blinked.

"And they fell for that?" Jace asked almost laughing. "Mundanes, ever more futile."

"I could not agree more. Well, it was good to work with you. Até a próxima, rapazes*." The redhead said and disappeared through the crowd.

Jace and Alec watched the crowd being handled by the police and paramedics, and seconds later they walked down the long street

"Raziel, how I missed that." Jace said as they were away from the nightclub.

"The near-death feeling?" Alec asked, picking up the keys to Simon's van the two of them had picked up.

"That too, but being in the action, you know, New York is kind of quiet." Jace said opening the door and sitting on the seat.

"Never say New York is kinda quiet, Jace." Alec said taking his stele in his pocket. "That brings bad luck, you know?"

"You're too superstitious." Jace rolled his eyes.

"Take off your shirt." Alec said and Jace frowned.

"But that was nothing." Jace said crossing his arms, looking at his cuts.

"Oh, of course not, you're just bleeding all over Simon's van and he's going to curse you in ten different languages." Alec said and Jace snorted.

"You're annoying." Jace murmured, taking off the black sweater that was soaked with blood. “As if he knows that many languages.”

"I'm not, I think sometimes you forget that everything you feel I feel too, and those bruises are blazing." Alec said as he drew an iratze on Jace's shoulder.

"Appeal to our parabatai bond, that’s ugly, Alec. Low blow." Jace said pretending he was angry and Alec laughed.

"All the methods to win, sweetie." Alec pocketed his stele and started the van, after putting the belt on.

In less than ten minutes they were back at the beach house. Alec saw that the girls were still on the porch, but this time Magnus was with them.

"Shit." Alec said and Jace looked through the window.

"You can always tell him that you were in a paintball game." Jace said taking his shirt and opening the door.

"Shut up."

Alec took the stele and reinforced the runes of silence and invisibility. He stepped out of Simon's van and locked it.

"Or you can do that." Jace said putting his shirt on his shoulder. "But, it looks like I'm talking to a ghost."

Alec looked at Clary, Emma, Cristina, and Izzy and put his finger to his lips, doing shh. Isabelle laughed softly, and Cristina blinked at him.

He quickly entered the house and went straight to the bedroom, took off his all stained clothing and entered the bathroom. The scar on his thigh still burned, but nothing that was not bearable. He turned the shower on a warm temperature and lay under it, feeling all the water on his shoulders.

After a few minutes, he left the bathroom with a white towel tied around his waist. He grabbed some of his clothes and put them on, wiped his hair with a towel, and the door opened.

"Hi, I didn’t see you come back." Magnus said sitting on the bed.

"Jace pissed me off and I came in by the back door." Alec said leaving the towel on a chair that was there, Magnus chuckled.

"Clary and Isabelle told me a thousand stories about you two." Magnus said, averting his eyes from the floor to Alec.

"I hope they were good things." Alec said, approaching Magnus.

"Some were." Magnus said and Alec kissed him.

Magnus put his hands on Alec's face and pulled him close. Falling into Magnus's lap, Alec smiled between the kiss and squeezed Magnus' shoulder.

"Your eyes are wonderful, has anyone told you that?" Magnus said when Alec opened his eyes, after the kiss was over.

"Not really."

"But they are." Magnus said and kissed Alec again. "I love your eyes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The phrase that Natalie says, its in portuguese and it means “See you around, guys”


	5. Tulip

**_Tulip_ **

_Love, prosperity, hope, hopeless love, elegance, sophistication, declaration of love, eternal love, irreversible love, perfect love._

 

Alec woke up with Tavvy jumping on the bed, his hair all messed up and a smile on his face.

"Uncle Jace said for you to stop having sex, we're going to the beach now." Tavvy said with folded arms. Alec looked at Magnus who was flushed.

"Tavvy! By the Angel, not literally." Jace said entering the room and taking the little boy in his arms. "You two... Hmm... Pretend nothing happened and go back to what you were doing or not doing. I don’t know." He said totally uncomfortably and left the room.

Magnus and Alec started to laugh.

"I'm going to kill Jace." Alec said as they both laughed.

"It's not that bad, Alec." Magnus spoke as he watched Alec rise from the bed and take off his shirt.

"I was just kidding." Alec said and Magnus watched the muscles of his back, it was a totally sexy sight, he could spend the rest of the day just looking at it.

"There's something I wanted to ask you yesterday, but you left with Jace and I forgot." Magnus said, and Alec looked at him.

"What is it?" Alec sat on the bed in front of Magnus.

"That Mark, who stopped by to talk about Jace, is the same Mark who is your ex-boyfriend, is not he?" Magnus asked in a scared voice.

"Yes ... It's him.Why?"

Magnus knew he could not compete with a tall, blond guy with eyes so blue that looked like the sky on a sunny day.

Alec and Magnus were different in so many ways, Magnus being more spontaneous and Alec, shy, was an example, and Alec and Mark, were obviously very similar.

There was no way Magnus could compete with that.

"Nothing, just curiosity." Magnus said and Alec realized he looked strange. Magnus was jealous of Mark.

"Hey, it doesn’t have to be like this, okay? I'm with you, not with him and if you meant nothing to me, I wouldn’t bring you to meet my family. And Mark we’re more like a friend with benefits than a real boyfriend, and he has a boyfriend now. " Alec said and Magnus had a faint smile on his lips. "There's no reason for you to be jealous."

"Who said I was jealous?" Magnus said raising an eyebrow.

"Your eyes." Alec spoke and kissed Magnus, who grabbed Alec's shirt as he lay down on the bed. "Magnus .." Alec muttered as the kiss closed.

"What is it?" Magnus asked looking into Alec's bright eyes.

"I think I'm falling in love with you." Alec said and Magnus' eyes widened, he was not expecting that.

"And I think..." Magnus licked his lips, making Alec look at his brown irises. "I'm already in love with you, Alexander Lightwood."

Alec can’t hold back the smile after hearing those few words coming out of Magnus' lips, the boy beneath Alec smiled as well, placing his hand on the back of Alec's neck and kissing him again.

"Date me." Alec said when the kiss ended and then shook his head quickly. "That came out wrong, that should be a question." Magnus laughed.

"That's what I like about you, Alec." Magnus said looking at the pout on Alec's mouth. "And, yes, I'm dating you. I thought you'd never ask."

The shadowhunter kissed his, now, boyfriend again. A quick kiss, because Alec knew that if they didn’t get up soon, Jace would appear again in the room with a bucket of cold water.

Alec left Magnus, who sat on the bed and straightened the shirt he was wearing, it was more wrinkled than when he had gone to sleep.

"I like your tattoos.” Magnus said looking at the various tattoos scattered across Alec's trunk.

"Oh, thank you, you want to know what they mean, since you tell me the meaning of flowers all the time?"

Magnus nodded, and Alec sat cross-legged in the shape of an Indian on the bed, facing Magnus.

"This one here." Alec said pointing at one in his chest. "It means something angelic, Power for example."

"Strong meaning." Magnus said and Alec gave a brief smile.

"And that," Alec showed one on his hand. "It's Clairvoyance."

Alec knew that some of the other ones would disappear in a short time, he just waited for Magnus not to remember.

"This means _Friendship_ ," Alec said pointing to one at the end of his abdomen. "Jace has one too, the same place, we did it together, and that's _Balance_."

 

"Amazing how you remember the meaning of every single one." Magnus spoke as Alec finished speaking the meaning of all the runes.

"It's the same thing with you and flowers, only with runes." Alec said and Magnus frowned in confusion.

"Tattoos, you mean?"

"That's right." Alec said and got up, took a red shirt from the backpack that was open and put it on. "I think we'd better go, otherwise Jace will begin to think we’re up to something."

"Go ahead, I think I'll take a shower first." Magnus said looking Alec out of the corner of his eye as he reached for a towel.

"OK." Alec said and gave Magnus a little kiss as he handed him the towel beside him, but he could not see.

Alec left the room and went into the kitchen, where everyone was helping to set the table for breakfast.

When Magnus arrived, they all had coffee and went to the beach.

 

"Who do you think?" Jace told Izzy, who looked from Alec to Clary and from Clary to Ty.

"I think Clary." She said looking at the three of them.

"No, it's Alec." Simon said with his arms crossed at Jace's side and Clary rolled his eyes.

"What are you doing?" Alec asked, understanding nothing of it.

"They're making a comparison to see who looks more like a hospital wall, you, Ty, or me." Clary glared at Jace.

"Leave me out of this." Ty said with folded arms, leaning against the chair.

Kit laughed, sitting on Ty's lap.

"What a beautiful little pout you get when you're angry, Ty." Kit said and squeezed Ty's nose before leaving a seal on his lips.

"Well, that’s another thing that I didn’t know about." Julian said looking at the younger brother with a confused look.

"Shut up, Christopher." Ty said and Kit laughed, rising from where she was and taking her boyfriend's hand.

"Let's go to the water.”

"I don’t want to." Ty said looking up at Kit.

"Did you know they're right? You look like a hospital wall so pale." Kit said and Ty stood up.

"I hate you." Ty said and Kit grinned as they both went to the water.

Julian looked at his brother in a weird way.

"Did you know?" Julian asked when Kit and Ty had already disappeared into the water.

"No." Everyone, except Alec, said.

"I knew. Since your marriage. I didn’t say anything because it was none of my business." Alec spoke putting his sunglasses on his face.

"My little brother is growing up." Julian said being a drama queen and Emma laughed. "Don’t laugh, Em. That means I'm getting old."

"Good thing it's you, because I'm such a little baby." Mark said shaking his flying hair.

"No, no, here's a white hair." A blond girl said coming up to Mark's side and grabbing a strand of his hair.

"What the... That's blond, you know that?" Mark said and turned to see who it was. "Why did not you tell me you were coming? And since when are you in New York?" Mark said hugging his sister so hard he pulled her off the floor.

"Mark, you're going to kill me!" Helen said slapping his back. "I missed you too, but I'm not trying to murder you."

"Exaggeration."

"I came in yesterday, and I talked to Clary. She told me you were here so I decided to come too." Helen said sitting where Mark was.

"And where is Aline?" Jace asked.

"She's with Tavvy, look there." Helen said pointing to a brunette girl playing with Octavian near the water.

"Alec, Mark and Helen and the other Blackthorns are siblings, aren’t they?" Magnus asked Alec as they walked to the water.

"Yes they are." Alec replied, already feeling the water at his feet.

"Why do Mark and Helen have blond hair and the others have dark hair?" Magnus asked and Alec looked at him.

"Oh, they're brothers from their father, their mother died before Mark and Helen were one year old, I think, the one who is the mother of the others, adopted them as her children too." Alec answered and Magnus nodded, throwing water at Alec, who glared at Magnus and threw water at him as well.

 

Mark had gone to Aline, and Tavvy went to where his wife, Clary and Jace were.

"Alec is dating a mundane?" Helen asked looking at Alec and Magnus.

"Yes, he is." Clary said looking at Helen, who had a worried face. "How did you find out?"

"He has no rune, it was easy." Helen muttered, shrugging, and Clary said something in agreement. "That's dangerous, he knows that, doesn’t he?"

"I think he does." Jace said biting the ice cream he had bought.

"This could end up really bad for the three of you." Helen said.

Jace breathed uneasily, he knew well that he was the third person in that sentence, the connection between Alec and he made a point of reminding him of it.

Everyone knew what happened to shadowhunters who were too involved with mundanes, the laws were clear. They were harsher than for people who got involved with Downworlders.

He felt the rune parabatai burn in his hip, he was worried about Alec. Never thought about the bad side of this relationship, but there never is only good things in it.

Realizing that Alec also felt his rune burning and was looking at Jace with a queer face, Jace took a deep breath and said that everything was fine. Alec shrugged and went back under the water.

"But he's happy." Jace said still looking at Alec. "It's all that matters, he's happy, the rest we'll deal with later."

"You’re his parabatai, you know what’s best for him. I'm just warning, I don’t want to see either of you suffering." Helen said taking the sunscreen that Aline was holding.

"What are we talking about?" Aline asked sitting with her back to Helen, so that she put sunscreen on her back.

"Alec and his mundane boyfriend." Helen said and Jace rolled his eyes. Alec was dating a mundane, it was his problem.

But that kind of involved Jace too, since they were parabatai, _so it is also your problem_. Jace shook his head trying not to think about it.

"Oh, they're cute." Aline said seeing Tavvy running across the sand and Mark crazy behind him. "What’s that?"

"He's a mundane, Al, you know what can happen."

"Well, there are two options. Magnus' becomes a nephilim, like us." Aline said looking at Helen.

"Or Alec loses all his runes and becomes a mundane, and forgets all that he knew, even us and his parabatai."

Clary thought maybe Helen was the wisest of them. She was saying what obviously everyone was thinking since Alec mentioned Magnus, no one wanted to be without the older Lightwood, he was important to everyone.

"Let's forget about that, okay? He... He's happy with that mundane, if he gets to that point, I'm sure he'll prefer Magnus to become nephilim, that's the most obvious decision." Jace said finishing the ice cream and throwing the toothpick in a plastic bag that Izzy had insisted for them to bring.

"It's ok." Helen gave up and finished putting the sunscreen on Aline's back.

They spent the rest of the day on the beach, until the sun went down completely. Julian began dismantling the sunshades along with Jace and Magnus. Alec, Mark, and Clary had gone to the grocery store along with Tavvy.

"Toys!" Tavvy said as soon as they entered the market as he ran to the toy section.

"I'm going after him, you get this part here and I'll get the other one, and then we'll meet in the front of the market.” Clary said tearing the list in two, handed one to Mark, and followed Tavvy.

Alec was still full of salt from the beach, which was very uncomfortable.

"You look like a shrimp." Mark told Alec, who grabbed Mark's hand list and headed for the cold section.

"I wanted to understand what everyone's problem with me." Alec said in the line.

"Oh, no, it's just cool to annoy you." Alec rolled his eyes.

"I'm going to put a pretty stinking demon in your suitcases and I'm not joking."

"You wouldn’t do that." Mark said looking at Alec with half-closed eyes.

"Try me.”

"You're too cool to do that."

"Believe it, Mark."

"I'm your best friend, you would not do that to me."

"My best friend is Jace."

"I feel so Barney Stinson now, you're clearly Ted, and Jace is Marshall, Clary even joins Lily, both are redheads. So, Magnus is your Robin, but that does not mean you would have to marry someone, and I marry Magnus before you get him? It's all very confusing, do you prefer the original ending or the alternative? I prefer the alternative, it's much better. Robin with Ted?! Meh! " Alec's brow furrowed.

"Mark." Alec said and Mark looked at him.

"What?" Mark blinked quickly at the series he was talking about seconds ago.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Alec asked putting the cold cuts in the cart and going into the aisle that had the next item on the list.

"How I Met Your Mother, or are you going to tell me you've never watched it?" Mark said taking rice and beans.

"No, I think Isabelle already watched, but I've never seen it." Alec ran his hand through his hair to get some of the salt out.

"I'll make sure I lend you my DVDs for you to watch and I can’t believe it." Mark said and Alec laughed.

"You're hilarious, Mark."

As they approached the last item on the list, in a little jogging corridor, Mark took a deep breath and Alec found it odd.

"There's something I need to talk to you before I go to Los Angeles definitely, and at the beach house we're never going to be able to talk alone because there are about three hundred people there."

"I know, a market is not the best place for this, but what is it?" Alec asked, leaning his wrists on the cart.

"It's kinda on my brain. I don’t want you to think it's jealousy, or something, because it's not, I want to see you happy, really." Mark said seriously, which was not common.

"You're scaring me, Mark." Alec said looking directly at Mark.

"You know what happens to those who are too deeply involved with mundanes, right?" Mark said putting his hand over Alec's.

A lady was passing by at that hour, she looked at them and murmured something like “ _Young love is something so new and interesting_ ”. They both wanted to laugh.

"I know." Alec said gulping dryly.

"I'm not here to tell you what to do, seriously, your life is yours and you can do whatever you want, just ... I just don’t want to see you hurt, Alec." Mark said and Alec could see that he was really worried about him. "You're happy with him, you can see that."

"Yeah I'm happy." Alec said with a silly grin.

"Just... promise me something, okay?" Mark said and Alec nodded. "Don’t do anyhing without thinking, Alec, not without at least talking to me, I know I'll be in another state, but you just send me a message and  I’ll pick up a portal and I arrive here in New York in a minute."

"I promise, Mark." Alec said and Mark gave a slight smile, knowing that Alec would comply.


	6. Aster

**_Aster_ **

_Loyalty, faithfulness, wisdom, good thoughts, power, light._

 

The first thing Alec did when he arrived at the Institute was to go to the library; Since he'd spent the entire weekend listening to everyone tell him to be careful about his relationship with Magnus.

He could not remember where he'd read anything about the punishments of someone who had fallen in love with the worldly, so it took him a while to find the book in the thousands.

_\- The mundane-nephilim relationship is totally restricted to small accidents and specific cases._

_\- Nephilims must remain invisible to the mundane, regardless of what their relationship is._

_\- If the nephilim is from mundane families, the visits must be marked and reported to the Director of the Institute in which the Hunter attends._

_\- Love affairs are forbidden. If they happen, there are two solutions: The mundane, in this case, can submit to the Mortal Cup, or the nephilim marks and memories will be taken of the shadow world and its partners._

 

It marked that for more information to the directors of the Institutes, it was necessary to access the database of Idris.

Alec left the book on the table and went to the computer in the corner of the library. You called and accessed the database.

The part he sought was password protected, and apparently the only people who had it were the directors of the Institute. Alec snorted and rose quickly from his chair.

"Emma, did you see Jace?" Alec asked to see Emma for the dirty clothes in the washing machine.

"He's in the director’s room with Julian, I guess." She said taking her eyes off Alec's clothes.

 

"Oh, okay, thank you." Alec said quickly and went into the living room.

Jace and Julian were talking excitedly about a show on television when Alec appeared and called Jace.

"I was looking at something on the computer, but it asked for the director's office password, and I don’t have it. I wanted to know if ..." Alec said and Jace chuckled.

"You’re going to watch porn, Alec?" Jace asked with a sly grin.

 

"No! And if I were, it would be on my cell phone, not on the library computer." Alec said crossing his arms.

"I always wanted to know how gay porn works, but the password is pretty dumb, the last name of the Director of the Institute, but here are two of them, so it’s Herondale-Morgenstern." Jace said thoughtfully.

"Do not make me imagine you watching gay porn, Jace." Alec said and Jace shrugged. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Jace frowned as he saw that Alec was already in the middle of the hallway.

Alec entered the password and the page opened. It was information about all the nephilims who have suffered it. The most common cases were in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the most recent was of Bianca Carstairs, 1987. He clicked on her name and a file with all the information on it opened up.

_Bianca Helene Collins (formerly Bianca Helene Carstairs, November 17, 1969-)_

Bianca's family expelled her from the Institute when they discovered her relationship with the Mundane, Michael Collins and immediately informed Clave.

The acting Council applied the rules on the nephilim, who decided to abandon her position in the Conclave and give up her runes for the mundane.

The ceremony was performed by the Silent Brothers at their former Institute, New York.

The rest of the archive contained pictures of when Bianca was nephilim, with her parents, friends, and the current address of Bianca and her husband.

Alec took a deep breath, wrote down Bianca's address and closed the section. He always knew that the Clave was something totally disgusting, that it did not allow anyone to oppose or be different.

It was a miracle they thought it was okay that Mark was dating a Seelie and the current Inquisitor, who happened to be his father, had a gay parabatai.

He put the paper with Bianca's address in his pocket, he would go the next day. Alec was too exhausted from the trip.

"Emma, I want to talk to you." Alec said as he sat on the laundry counter, where Emma fingered her cell phone.

"Of course, what is it?" She asked putting her cell phone away and looking at him.

"I think I’m asking a lot with this, but, Bianca Carstairs, the girl who gave up being nephilim for a change in the late 1980s. What was your relationship with her?" Alec asked and Emma's fingers twitched.

 

"Actually they did not ask me that much, just when I was in Idris once. She was my father's great-aunt, they did not talk much about what he told me, Uncle Jem knows more about her, but I heard that she's still living here in New York with her family. " Emma said with a brief smile on her lips, she knew why Alec was asking that.

"Hmmm, thank you." Alec muttered from the counter.

"I hope I helped." The blonde said taking her cell phone again while Alec left the laundry room.

All those cases were more than twenty years ago, it could not be so nowadays, after all, laws can be flexible and even change.

In the past nephilims and beings of the underworld could not relate, nowadays it was something more normal, Helen and Mark were children of a nephilim with a Seelie, it was not the end of the world.

Though he thought that, Alec knew he could not guess what would happen if someone he did not trust discovered of his relationship with Magnus. As long as it was between the Blackthorns, Lightwood, and Herondale, Alec knew this was not going to happen.

His involvement with Magnus was something new and beautiful, it was not something to be so worried about, that was what frustrated Alec.

For the first time he was happy, of course he had been happy with Mark, but it was not the same way. Magnus was something totally different, something he had never felt before. Magnus brought all his best parts to the surface, Magnus made him want to tell the whole truth about himself, about being a hunter, about all the vampire stories, werewolves and creatures you did not even know existed, are true. All this happiness should not bring so much concern.

Happiness should be something pure and beautiful and not bring so much fear, fear and psychotic and idiotic theories to Alec's head.

Alec sighed and threw his body against the bed, making his hair scatter across the pillow. He took the small paper out of his pants pocket and stared at it. It was not that far, he'd already been down the street a couple of times with Jace when the two were teenagers and were patrolling along with Izzy and Clary.

He opened the drawer of his nightstand and placed the address inside a thick book, closed the book and drawer. His skin was still burned from the excess sun on the beach, which made him flinch under his clothes and the contact with the bed sheet.

Alec thought that having sunscreen was not his mistake, the mistake was to have sunscreen and seconds later to have gone to the water. He took his stele and reinforced the iratze to make the skin burns go away.

He left the stele on the bed and took off his t-shirt and pants, grabbed a towel and slipped on his slippers that were tossed into the room, tied the towel around his waist and went to the bathroom.

He was still full of salt and sand. That was the problem with going to the beach, you never took all the sand and salt out of the water until you get home, which makes you spend the whole trip with sand in unusual places.

The warm water fell on Alec's shoulders and made his muscles relax, which was not something common among Hunters, they always had to be alert even at the Institute, but since Alec was in an Institute full of Hunters and well protected, he did not care.

When Alec finished his bath and saw the time on his cell phone it was after midnight. It was not too long since they had arrived after nine o'clock at night and he had spent a lot of time in the library.

Alec left the cell phone in the charger because it was totally out of battery, brushed his teeth and lay under the thin dark sheet of his bed. Quickly, he fell asleep.

The next day, Alec woke up with the sun coming out through the gaps of the curtain burning his face. It was mid-summer so that was becoming more and more common. He got up, pulled the curtains so that the light entered through his room, went to the bathroom lazily and splashed water on his face.

The big clock on the wall in the hall of the Institute said 11:15. Alec yawned as he walked into the kitchen. It was not unusual for him to wake up at this time, but it was good once in a while.

If it were not for some sleepy voices coming from the room, Alec would think everyone was asleep.

In the kitchen, he found Mark eating some toast with guava, Alec smirked and picked up one of them, receiving a slap in Mark's hand.

"You got enough there, Mark." Alec. He murmured, picking up the half-filled pot of coffee and a cup.

"I'm selfish, I want my toast all for me. God said to divide the bread, not the toast, much less the guava." Mark said biting a piece of guava.

"Such an ugly thing." Alec sat at the table, facing Mark, and drank his coffee. It was hot, so someone had made it recently.

"Of course not. How would you feel if they asked you to share your underwear with someone?"

"These are totally different things."

"You understood my point of view."

 

"Not really." Alec said and Mark rolled his eyes. "So... When are you going back to California?"

"Are you throwing me out of New York, Alec? I’m going back on Friday.”

"But already?"

"Yes, the Institute is empty. Only Diana is there and she does not live in the Institute, she goes there at one time or another." Mark shrugged. "But don’t worry, as I said, the two of us will still be pissed off each other. I think your parabatai will be happy with me going, he will have you just for himself."

"Who? Jace? You think." Alec said biting his bread.

"It seems cool to have one, I wanted one."

"Oh, super cool, especially the part where if it hurts, I feel it here."

"I'll still get one."

"Why do not you ask Julian? You two are very close, and it's not uncommon to have a friend who is your brother."

"Nah, I would have to listen to him say how wonderful Emma is more than I already hear." Mark shook his head. "Maybe I'll ask Aline, she's cool."

"You're certainly crazy, Mark." Alec said and Mark closed his eyes.

"I have only one unquestionable personality, my dear Alec." Mark said standing up and putting his plate in the sink.

"Why do I feel this was a reference to Sherlock Holmes?" Alec said as he watched Mark pick up a toothpick.

"Because it was one." Mark frowned. "Blame Ty leaving everyone addicted to those stories." Mark left the kitchen and let Alec laugh.

Lightwood finished his coffee and washed his glass. He went back to his room and picked up Bianca's address, laid it on the bed, and changed his clothes. He put the paper in his pants pocket, brushed his teeth, and left the Institute.

It was not difficult to find the house. Bianca was in the yard, washing the car with some children. She still had the looks of a Huntress, but she had no runes on her body, just a scar on her chest, in the shape of the angelic rune.

Alec sat on the pavement and tore the paper with the address. He took a deep breath and threw the papers into a garbage can beside him.

"Hello." Alec heard a voice beside him, it was Bianca. "I hope you do not mind." She sat down on the sidewalk beside Alec.

 

"No, you can relax." Alec said with a smile at the corner of his mouth.

"I may be out of line, but, what happened to make you sad like this?" Bianca asked, leaning her elbows on her legs and staring at Alec.

"It's okay ... It's just, well, I have a choice to make. It's not quite something I'm forced to do at this point, but at some point I'm going to have to choose between my family and the person I love and I do not want to have to make that choice. " Alec said stuttering.

"Wow, that's a serious choice. Look, I did not even ask your name, how rude of me."

"It's Alec, Alec Lightwood."

"Lightwood? I've heard that name somewhere, I just don’t remember where." Bianca frowned. "That's a pretty serious choice, no one should have to choose, because it's always better to have the people you love at the same time, but that does not always happen. I'm not an expert on this subject, but I can tell you to analyze both sides, observe your life. As you said it yourself, you don’t have to do it now, take this time and think. "

"That... That's good actually." Alec said looking at Bianca.

"I hope it helped you." She smiled. "Now I have to go, otherwise my husband's nephews will burn down my house."

"It did."

"Come by whenever you want, Alec." She said as she was already in the garden, and Alec nodded.

He felt his cell vibrate and took it out of his pocket. It was a message from Magnus.

"I'm going to have a free time now at lunchtime, do you want to come here on Campus?"

"Sure, I'm coming."

Alec put his cell phone in his pocket and went to the bus stop, picking up the line to NYU.

He found Magnus sitting under a tree on the NYU campus, with a book on his lap and his backpack tossed beside him, he had a red rose behind his ear.

"Hello, handsome." Alec said, kissing Magnus, who smiled closing the book.

"Handsome?" Magnus said putting the book aside and handing the rose to Alec, who sat across from him.

Alec did not need to ask what that flower meant, he knew roses meant love.

"Do you prefer cute?"

"Cute is ugly, so do not." Magnus murmured as he took Alec's sweater and pulled him toward him.

Magnus kissed Alec's lips, and placed his right hand on Alec’s waist leaving their bodies together.

"I step away for a minute and this is a brothel." A girl said out of nowhere, and Magnus laughed, breaking the kiss with Alec.

Alec's cheeks were red, and the brunette girl laughed at it.

"Alec, this is Catarina, my best friend. And, Cat, this is Alec I told you about."

Catherine was a dark-skinned girl with dark-blue hair, her eyes were dark brown.

"He's prettier than I imagined." Cat said winking at Magnus. "So it was you who won the heart of my florist."

"I think that's me." Alec said rather shyly.

"If you break him, I'll go after you even in Hell, okay?"

"Catarina, is that a thing to say?" Magnus said looking ugly at her.

"You know I’m lying, I do not kill or fly, but you do not have a brother, do you?" Cat asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, but he's younger."

"No problem, I hope."

"Whoever sees thinks he's single."

"Oh, Gezz. He sucks, I'm going to break up with him tonight."

"You say that every day." Magnus said rolling his eyes and taking the soda that the girl had brought.

"It's serious today."

"I will pretend to believe." Magnus said looking at Alec, who laughed silently watching them.


	7. Rose

 

**_Rose_ **

_Passion, romanticism, love devotion, admiration, charity, marriage, desire, intense love, whimsical beauty, peace, tranquility, enthusiasm, everlasting love, respectful love, dangerous unity, thought, abstract purity, silence, virginity, peace, passionate thoughts, jealousy, distrust, infidelity, sweetness, affection._

 

Magnus kissed Alec's neck and laid his head on his chest, Alec put his arm around Magnus' shoulders, making their bodies fully glued.

Alec saw that Magnus's cat, Charmain Meow, was on the dresser watching them with his feline sharp eyes, it was kind of weird to match his name, which Alec would definitely never understand.

"My parents want to meet you." Magnus said moving the tip of his index finger across Alec's bare pectoral.

"What?" Alec asked confused.

"They want to meet you because they think you don’t exist." Magnus said and Alec looked at him strangely.

"Why would they think that?" Alec asked, stirring his dark hair.

"Because it's been more than four months since we've been together and I've never introduced you to them, they think you're some kind of Moaning Myrtle." Magnus said and Alec snorted.

"Is that supposed to be a good thing? The only thing that's good is that she's already seen Daniel Radcliffe naked." Alec said and Magnus rolled his eyes as he held the laughter.

"They won’t bite you, Alec." Magnus sat on the bed, looking straight into Alec's blue eyes. "They're just my parents."

Magnus passed his leg across Alec's trunk, sitting on his lap. He lifted his chin with his index finger and left a long kiss on the boyfriend's lips.

"There's nothing to worry about." Magnus whispered and Alec placed both hands on Magnus' hips, kissing him again.

"It's cheating when you talk like that." Alec said between the kiss, Magnus laughed and bit Alec's lip weak.

"Please? Just to make them stop thinking I'm crazier than usual” Magnus said opening his eyes, and faced with Alec's blue irises.

"Ok, I will, but only because you asked nicely." Alec said leaving a seal on Magnus' lips, which smiled.

"It didn’t hurt to say yes, did it?" Magnus said tightening Alec's nose, which chuckled silently.

"You know I'd never say no to you, but you wanted to do all this and who I am to say something against." Alec said putting his hands under Magnus' butt.

"I knew you'd say yes." Magnus murmured, bringing his hands up to the hem of his shirt and pulling it out. "But if I did not do it, I would not have it." He tossed the shirt in one corner, and then he pressed his lips to Alec's again.

Alec's back tapped lightly against the head of the bed, causing Charmain Meow to scare himself and run out of the room. Alec laughed watching the scene and brought his hands up to the buttons of his shorts.

He pushed Magnus off of him and tore off his shorts, tossing them to the floor, along with Magnus' shirt. He was now lying on the bed with Alec on top of him, propped by his elbows.

"If you wanted, you just had to ask, Magnus." Alec said kissing Magnus' collarbone, who gasped low.

"I know, but it's more fun this way." Magnus said into Alec's ear, which opened a smile.

Alec's pale eyes flickered as Magnus left a long hickey on his neck, leaving the area sensitive and running his tongue lightly around the same spot again.

Alec ran his hand over the ends of Magnus' trunk, leaving long scratches all over his abdomen. Magnus moaned softly as he felt Alec's hand on his cock, even over his black underwear.

A sly grin ran down Alec's lips, which he sat on the bed beside Magnus and took the boy's boxer underwear slowly, throwing it down with the rest of his clothes.

He clasped his hand over Magnus' semi-erect penis and slowly stroked it, Magnus' reddened lips were compressed into a hoarse, crawly moan.

Alec settled on the bed and brought his mouth to Magnus' cock, who placed his hand in Alec's messy hair and guided his movements.

When Magnus felt himself approaching climax, Alec stopped sucking him, which made Magnus let out a moan of disappointment.

"You stop at the best part." Magnus murmured as he sat on the bed, leaving a quick kiss on Alec.

"Nah, I'm just getting started." Alec said taking off his own underwear and letting his hardness show.

"You will ruin me, Alexander." Magnus said putting his hands on Alec's shoulders, and pulling him close.

 

Magnus was lying on the bed again, Alec over his boyfriend and kissing him. Their sensitive intimacies touched, causing a peculiar friction.

"Could it... can you get on with it?" Magnus asked, gasping as Alec left long kisses on his neck.

"Why?" Alec asked looking at Magnus out of the corner of his eye.

"I have to cook dinner." Magnus said and Alec started to laugh, left his face in the curve of Magnus' neck, while still laughing openly. "What is it?"

"You're really something, Magnus Bane." Alec said holding back the laughter and taking a deep breath, sat down on the edge of the bed and brought his eyes to Magnus again. "Where is it?"

"In the second drawer of the nightstand." Magnus said and Alec opened the drawer, took out the lube from inside and opened it.

"Come here." Alec told Magnus as he was lying on his side on the bed. Magnus got up and went to Alec.

The nephilim poured a little of the lubricant on his member and a little more in the entrance of Magnus. He set the lube on the nightstand, and Alec slid his cock into Magnus, slowly.

Magnus left his arms on Alec's shoulders, and grabbed the short strands at the nape of his neck, Alec brought his hands up to Magnus' hips and let himself be carried away by the act.

When he felt comfortable with his boyfriend’s member inside him, Magus began to roll slowly into Alec's lap, who moaned quietly burying his short nails into the bare skin of Magnus.

In a rapid movement, Alec laid Magnus on the bed, and he wrapped his legs around Alec's hips, which brought them flush quickly. Alec brought his hand up to Magnus' cock and wickedly stroked him, causing Magnus to cum a few minutes later.

Without much delay, Alec reached his climax shortly after Magnus. He disengaged himself from the inside of Magnus, lying next to him, leaving his arm around Magnus' shoulders.

"Now I can make dinner for my parents." Magnus said with still uncertain breath and Alec began to laugh. "What? I needed an incentive."

"I don’t think anyone will ever compare to you, Magnus." Alec said and Magnus smiled, making his eyes look smaller than they already were.

"I am exclusive, and exclusively yours." Magnus whispered and kissed Alec, resting his right hand on his chest.

"I liked that part." Magnus laughed softly, hiding his face in Alec's chest.

"Is eight o'clock good for you?" Magnus asked, raising his hazel eyes to Alec.

"I'll check on my mental agenda." Alec said and closed his eyes. Magnus slapped Alec on the arm, which laughed still with his eyes closed.

"You're a beast, Alexander." Magnus said getting up from the bed and Alec's lips twitched.

"No, come back here." Alec said taking Magnus' hand, which had released him and put on his underwear. "I never want to leave here."

"When you want, you can be very sweet, Alec." Magnus said returning to where he was, falling into Alec's arms.

"It's kind of like my superpower. Nothing like flying or being a human spider, but it's pretty cool." Magnus rolled his eyes and Alec had a beastly smile on his lips.

Alec wondered if he should tell Magnus that he is a nephilim. They'd been together for over four months, by the way, on Thursday the following week, they would have completed five months of dating. It was quite a thing, and Alec already knew Magnus enough to know that he would not talk about the shadow world to any person.

Magnus had to know, because Alec was totally, madly and deeply in love with him. If someone from the Clave found out about their relationship, his future would be dictated by the Council and the choice Alec would have to make.

A choice that wouldn’t be easy, he would have to be selfish. To the point of abandoning his family or abandoning the man he loves, only because of a stupid law.

It was better to tell only about the shadowhunter part, to leave ridiculous laws and customs for another time, after all, only the nephilim part would be too difficult and too complicated. Alec thought about how Magnus would react.

There was no way to know exactly how Magnus would get that news, he could take it good and even make jokes, he could be confused or make the biggest fuss and break up with Alec.

"Magnus." Alec said earnestly, but his voice was cut off. Alec cursed himself mentally for it.

Magnus sat on the bed, facing Alec, looking at the dark-haired man with a strange look. Alec had never spoken his name like that.

"Whats wrong?" Magnus said and took a deep breath. "You don’t want to meet my parents, I knew it would be a bad idea, it's still too early. Sorry, okay?I'll talk to them and..." Alec interrupted.

"That's not it."

"So what is it?" Magnus stared into Alec's blue eyes, as if trying to unravel what his boyfriend was trying to say.

"I should have told you this before, long before, before we started dating, but I was scared." Alec said and moistened his lips, Magnus was utterly confused.

"You're not wanted by the police or anything, are you?" Alec bit his cheek, wanting to laugh at it.

"No, quite the opposite." Alec said and Magnus relaxed his shoulders.

"If it's not that... What is it?"

"Let me talk, okay? It gets harder with you stopping me all the time."

Magnus nodded and kept glancing at Alec, who closed his eyes for a moment, thinking of the right words to say.

"I totally understand if you want to break up with me for this or if you don’t want me to come tonight to meet your parents, or anything else you've decided on."

Alec's hands were ringing and he was totally nervous. It seemed like he was about to tell his parents that he was gay and that was not a very pleasant experience. Alec brought his right hand to her temple and squeezed it lightly.

"I am a nephilim." Alec said in a single breath, then breathed out slowly.

Magnus had said nothing, Alec looked at him timidly, and the brunette was still staring at him, as if this were the most normal thing in the world.

"A nephilim... Like, people who are children of angels and humans?" Magnus asked, frowning.

"Kinda." Alec said, poking at the nerves in his fingers, it was a horrible habit he insisted on having. "We are called Shadowhunters. We fight demons, vampires, werewolves and any downworld members who break the laws and threaten human life."

"Wait ..." Magnus interrupted Alec, even after his request. "Vampires? Are they real?"

"Yes, they are, but very different from what everyone thinks. The Vampire Diaries are the version that comes closest to reality. Without the part of that much whiskey, of course." Alec said and Magnus was quiet.

Alec was trying to figure out what Magnus was thinking through his eyes and expressions, but it was difficult. Alec has never been good to people.

"You... you're pretty crazy, Alec." Magnus said and Alec rolled his eyes.

"I'm telling the truth, look at all those tattoos that I have on my body, they're called runes, they help the nephilims when they are working." Alec swallowed hard and picked up his cell phone, squeezed it into his fingers. "Now remember the trip we made to Montauk, remember the tattoos of Jace, Clary, Max, Jonathan, Izzy, Simon, Ty, Mark, Helen, Aline, Dru, Livvy, Emma and Kit." Alec asked looking at his cell phone, then at Magnus.

"But this is impossible." Magnus said in astonishment.

"If you don’t believe me." Alec said and took a deep breath, unlocked his cell phone and opened the gallery. "Just look." He handed the cell phone with the photos of the beach to Magnus.

The florist picked up his cell phone and stared at the photos. The images were stained in his mind, it was very confusing. Alec told him to concentrate. Now that he knew, he would have the Sight. He would see everything that existed in the Shadow World.

"You have the Sight now, Magnus. Just focus and let your mind open up." Alec said softly and for a moment Magnus closed his eyes.

The images began to clear in his mind. What before was stupid drawings on everyone's skin, they became tattoos, runes, like Alec's, not in the same places, but definitely the same ones.

"Is everyone here? Tavvy?" Magnus asked staring at the photo.

"He is, but he is still too young to receive the runes. That usually happens at the age of ten, he is just over seven now." Magnus handed the cell back to Alec.

"That's weird. Totally weird. Magnus still said with the ecstasy of Sight in his mind.

"You'll see everything now, Magnus, all the shadow world, but only if you believe me." Alec said taking Magnus' hand, which was as cold as a stone.

"I believe you, Alec." Magnus pressed his fingers against Alec's hand, making the ends whitish. "It's just... weird, very weird, I thought vampires were just teenage fiction, and demons?" Magnus released Alec's hand.

Magnus rose from the bed and Alec followed him with his gaze.

"I need a minute to take it all in." Magnus said slowly and left the room.

Alec took a deep breath, he should have prepared more the way he was going to speak, it should have been more  subtle, though subtlety would not have helped at all.

The nephilim got up from the bed lazily and searched the room for his clothes. Alec knew this would happen, it was one of the possibilities, he just didn’t think that Magnus left the room of his own apartment.

When he found his clothes, he quickly dressed them and ruffled his hair. The door opened again and a heavy-breathing Magnus entered.

"That's why you never took me to your house, right?" Magnus asked, his arms crossed. "I always thought it was because you were not sure of… of what we have, but I thought you introduced me to your family before we even dated and it did not make sense. I always knew there was something behind."

Magnus paced the room and Alec watched him, he did not know what to say.

"Come here." Magnus said sitting on the edge of the bed and patted the space at his side.

Alec stared at the spot for a second and bit his lip. He sat down beside Magnus and looked at him.

"You kill demons?"

"Yes."

"But not people?"

"No, never."

Magnus stared at the wall and squeezed his knees with his hands, looked at Alec, who was looking at him calmly, but it was obvious that he was frightened by what Magnus might say.

"It's totally insane, like, having a world that no one has ever heard of. It's like... Like everything you've seen all your life was a lie, you know?"

"I understand, or at least I try."

Magnus sighed and took his hand to Alec's, squeezed it lightly and looked at his boyfriend.

"Alec, I love you." Magnus paused, moistened his lips and continued to speak. "And that should not affect us, not because of me. I love you and want to be with you, it's just kind of weird, but I'm sure I can get used to it."

"Magnus... I... I love you too and you know that. I should have told you before, I know. I just didn’t want this to happen, this strangeness, but I never had to tell anyone that before." Alec said looking down at Magnus.

"Wait ... what do you call people who are not nephilim?"

"Mundanes."

"Am I the first mundane person you've ever been with?" Magnus said with a bliss in his words.

"You're my first in so many things, Magnus."

The mundane smiled and Alec smiled, Magnus took his hands to Alec's neck and kissed him, Alec knew things would change from now on, but at least it would not be as bad as he imagined.

 


	8. Dahlia

**_Dahlia_ **

_Reciprocal union, delicacy, subtlety, burning eyes, reciprocal love, insinuating passion, insightfulness, impulse, disorder, instability._

 

Magnus heard the bell ring, he knew it was his parents, he didn’t understand why they were still ringing the bell. He turned off the fire from the pot and went quickly to the door, opened it and faced his mother and his huge smile.

"Magnus!" She said hugging her son as she walked through the door.

"Hi mom." Magnus said hugging his mother back. "Hi dad."

The two of them broke free and Magnus closed the door shortly after his father entered.

"Let me guess, Amber is at her friend’s house?" Magnus asked, taking the apron from his body.

"It's a pajama party. Teenage thing, I'm sure you understand. " Magnus's mother said and he nodded, he knew very well what pajama parties meant. Amber should be at her boyfriend's house (or girlfriend, you never know).

Asmodeus and Magnus' mother sat on the couch facing their son, the elder Bane soon took control and turned the television on a channel.

"It's good even, because Alec is coming to meet you and she's met him." Magnus said folding the apron and his father looked at him tense.

"Alec, your boyfriend, you mean?" Asmodeus asked, and Magnus bit his cheek, he hated it when his father misunderstood.

"Himself." Magnus said walking to the kitchen, his mother suddenly got up from the sofa and followed.

"Why did not you warn me? I would have tidied up more and brought a dessert." The woman said crossing her arms. "He's the first boyfriend that you have something serious, I don’t want to get a wrong picture."

"Alec is a super simple guy, he does not care if you're wearing a silk dress or you're wearing your winx club pajamas." Magnus said with his hand on the shoulder of his mother, who was totally tense.

"Good, because I really like my winx club pajamas." She said and Magnus laughed.

At the Institute, Alec was trying to find a suit of his that was not torn or that was not a combat uniform, which was a rather difficult task.

There was a knock on the door and murmured one in between, the door opened and Jace came in with a light blue social shirt.

"Here, use this one. It's mine, but I only used it once, it should serve on you." Jace said as he sat on the chair in the corner of Alec's bedroom.

"Thank you." Alec said and Jace winked at him, Alec put on the shirt and it was perfect on him. Jace was a few centimeters shorter than him, but they had the same body shape.

"Alec, tell me, tell me what's bothering you. I'm feeling your nervousness here, and it's not about meeting your boyfriend's parents." Jace said looking directly at Alec, who took a deep breath and sat down on his bed beside the large pile of clothes.

"I told him, Jace, about being a nephilim, about the shadow world, anything but filthy laws. I did not tell him that if my parents dream that I'm dating a mundane man they'll desert me. I can lose everything I have with him. " Alec said at once, making Jace startle.

Jace swallowed hard and rested his elbows on his thighs, looking at Alec who had his blue eyes fixed on a spot on the wall.

"Alec, you told him about the angels and the vastness of this world we live in, it's too much for one day." Jace said and Alec nodded, averting his eyes from the wall to his parabatai.

"It's just that sometimes it seems like I'm being false with him, Jace." Alec leaned against the wall.

"You love each other, I'm sure of that, I think that's kind of obvious." Jace said and picked up a glass ball with a New York miniature inside. "He will understand, don’t worry. If you throw everything at him at once it would be bad, then he wouldn’t understand."

The Herondale spoke as he watched the fake snow fall on the globe in his hand, it was such a thought-provoking object.

"I love him, more than I feel I should and if they find out, I'm totally fucked." Alec said banging his head on the wall lightly.

Jace rolled his eyes and slammed the globe into Alec's nightstand, making Alec look down at him with a frown to stop him.

"Alec, to live by 'if this happens' and 'if that happens,' don’t you see how it is doing you harm? You say that you are happy, that Magnus is good for you, what you really understand is you're happier, more open to everything, but at the same time you're sad, Alec, this is killing you little by little, killing me little by little. "

Jace bit his lip, pausing, Alec stared at him.

"And I hate to see this, okay? I don’t want to see my brother, my parabatai in that way. Fuck the Clave. Fuck all those laws. You deserve to be happy, Alec, you deserve all the love that mundane with a weird name can give you, and I want to see you happy, you're my parabatai. I would never want anything for you that was not happiness. So send a middle finger to all that crap Council in Idris and go live your life, go be happy. " Jace said making Alec's eyes water.

"You... I hate you for making me cry, Jace." Alec said wiping his eyes and Jace smiled rising from his chair.

Jace walked over to where Alec sat and hugged him. A strong hug, causing Alec to lay his head on Jace's broad shoulder.

"And I love you, Alec, no wonder I chose you to be my parabatai." Jace said when the hug broke. "Now I'm going to let you finish getting ready to meet your boyfriend's parents. I'm sure they'll love you." Alec nodded and Jace left the room with a smile on his lips.

Alec ran his hand over his face, wiping away the tears that had fallen, and lifted himself from the bed. Jace could be tough and playful most of the time, but when he wanted to, he knew he was someone who touched his wound and made you listen to what he has to say.

He threw his clothes into the wardrobe again, making a mental note that he needed to clean it as soon as possible, which probably would not happen.

He grabbed his black boots from the side of the bed and put them on quickly, making his hair messy as usual. He took his cologne from the drawer and passed it around the neck and wrists. The denim jacket at the head of the bed was put on by Alec shortly thereafter.

He felt his cell phone vibrating on the bed and picked it up, it was a message from Magnus. He unlocked his cell phone and read it.

 _"They're already here, are you coming? I just hope you have not given up on the way."_ \- Magnus.

 _"I just finished getting dressed, I'm on my way, I'm not giving up."_ \- Alec.

The nephilim could hear Magnus laughing as he read the SMS. Magnus's laughter was one of the things he loved to hear.

He put his cell phone in the back pocket of his pants and left his room, closed the door behind him, and walked down the long Hall of the Institute.

It was weird to have so few people in the Institute. It was just the Lightwoods, Jace, Clary and Simon, everything was so quiet and monotonous. Max had been heartbroken when Livvy decided to go along, but promised he would be back soon, she was just homesick.

Alec believed that if she took more than a month to return to New York, Max would come after her in California.

The chill wind of late autumn made Alec shiver, maybe he should have gotten a thicker coat, but now it was not worth it anymore. He picked up a taxi that ran down the street to Magnus' apartment, he was close to the Institute, but not so much.

Jimmy, the doorman, smiled at Alec as he opened the gate for him to enter. Alec had come so many times to the building that the doorman already knew him. Jimmy asked Alec if he wanted him to call Magnus to warn him that he was coming up.

"No thanks, he's already waiting for me." Alec said with a friendly smile to Jimmy, who nodded and returned to his post.

The nephilim pressed the elevator button and felt his hands wring as the elevator didn’t arrive. two people, a man and a woman stood beside him, waiting for the elevator as well, wiping his hands on his jeans and then the elevator arrived.

Alec was nervous, it was the first time he was going to see Magnus' parents, not to mention that he had dropped a bomb on his boyfriend's shoulders in the afternoon, he had no way of knowing what was going through his mind.

He pressed the button on the fifth floor shortly after the woman pressed the tenth one, Alec heard them talking quietly and asked to arrive on the fifth floor soon, elevators were a bit embarrassing, especially if you have a couple at your side.

Without delay, the elevator opened on the fifth floor and Alec stepped out of it, walked down the hall to the second door, where Magnus' apartment was, rang the bell, and then the door was opened by Magnus.

"Hi, Alexander." Magnus said with a smile, Alec came in and Magnus gave him a long kiss.

"Hi, Magnus." Alec murmured with a tense smile.

Alec took off his jacket because the temperature was considerably higher inside the apartment and left it on the arm of Magnus' sofa.

"Nice shirt." Magnus said closing the door.

Magnus walked over to Alec and squeezed his shoulders, realizing that he had stiff muscles, totally tense and nervous.

"Relax, okay? They're not going to kill you, they're just going to ask some totally embarrassing questions."

"It's not just about them that I'm tense, Magnus... It's just..." Magnus took a deep breath and looked into Alec's eyes.

"Is it about what you told me earlier today?" Alec nodded, and Magnus rubbed his boyfriend's shoulders. "Do not worry about that, okay? You have no reason at all."

Jace's words popped into his mind _. You deserve to be happy, Alec, you deserve all the love that the mundane with a weird name can give you, and I want to see you happy_. He deserved to be happy, deserved to be selfish at least once in his life.

Alexander Lightwood deserved to be loved, deserved to feel loved and had no one better than Magnus Bane to make it happen.

Alec smiled and brought his hands to his waist, joining his body to his. The two were about the same height, so Alec took his lips to Magnus', and kissed him passionately.

There with Magnus, Alec allowed himself to be free from all that concern with laws and his parents, that did not matter anymore.

"What was that for?" Magnus asked Alec as the two separated.

"You're welcome." Alec replied, his eyes shining.

"Magnus, dear, did you go to open or fabricate the door?" A female voice from the kitchen echoed through the apartment.

"Mom, I'm coming." Magnus shouted back. "Come on, I left them setting the table." Magnus said and Alec nodded, following him into the kitchen.

"Mom, dad, this is Alec." Magnus said wrapping his fingers around Alec's, and looking at him with a smile on his face.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Bane, it's nice to meet you." Alec said with red cheeks.

"Now, now, my dear, you can call me Krista." Magnus' mother smiled at Alec.

Alec washed his hands and sat down at the table with Magnus and his parents. Krista watched Magnus smile as he looked at his boyfriend and his mother's heart was racing, it was wonderful to see that her son was happy.

"So, Alec, where did you two meet?" Asmodeus asked.

"It was in the flower shop, actually. I went there and Magnus was the clerk." Alec said looking at Magnus, who had a shy smile on the corner of his lips.

The rest of the dinner went well, Alec managed to feel more comfortable as time passed.

When it was already past nine o'clock, Magnus' parents said they had to leave because the house had been left empty.

"It was nice meeting you, Alec." Krista said as she was already at the door.

"Also, Krista, I hope to see you more often."

"I'm the one who says that."

"Did you see that it was not a seven-headed creature?" Magnus said throwing himself next to Alec on the couch.

Alec wanted to tell Magnus that he had already killed a demon that had more than seven heads when he was only sixteen, but decided to be quiet.

"They were friendly." Alec said laying his head on Magnus's lap.

"Yes, my dad was more sympathetic than usual, I want to meet yours, too." Magnus said stroking Alec's hair.

"This is going to be kind of complicated, they do not live here in the United States, they live in Europe." Alec said and Magnus frowned.

"And you live with whom?" Magnus asked.

"With Jace, Clary, my brother and sister and Simon, since I was 15."

"Your parents trust you a lot."

"A little bit I think, but this is normal for Shadowhunters, we've started to turn around on our own early on."

And we die early too, Alec thought and bit his lip at this.

"That's interesting, what else can you tell me about this secret faction that you're part of?"

"It's not a faction, Magnus, you're watching too many sci-fi movies, and you'd be bored listening to so many stupid laws." Alec said and pulled Magnus by the collar of his shirt and kissed him.

Alec lifted himself from Magnus' lap and kissed him again, his hands were around Magnus' face, Magnus held him by the hips.

"I just ... I just wanted to spend a night without being a nephilim, one night, with you without having to worry about the shadow world or anything else attached to it. Alec said as the kiss closed.

Magnus leaned his forehead on Alec's, wondering how he had the weight of the world on his shoulders because of a nephilim was born and how hard it must have been.

Things like this had not crossed his mind when Alec had told him he was a nephilim, it was a sad thing to think. The mundane nodded, they could at least try.

"We can do whatever you want." Magnus said looking at Alec's blue irises, which were so close to his eyes.

"I just want to stay here, holding you." Alec said quietly, and Magnus hugged him, leaving his head on his chest.

Alec closed his eyes as he felt the grip of Magnus' arms around him, and left Magnus wondering what Alec might be thinking, his reality was full of things he would probably never see in his life.

Alec was trapped in his own world, thinking of all the beauty he’d seen and all that he had yet to discover.

His world at that moment was Magnus, who kissed the top of his head, a simple symbol of affection and affection.

"Alexander." Magnus said and Alec opened his eyes, facing the brown irises of Magnus.

"What’s wrong?" Alec said moistening his lips.

"There's nothing wrong, Angel, I just wanted to say I love you, never forget that." Magnus said and Alec smiled, a smile that barely fit his lips, something sincere.

"And I love you, Magnus Bane, and you can’t even imagine how much."


	9. Jasmine

**_Jasmine_ **

_Love, delicate beauty, grace, modesty, timidity, kindness, joy, tenderness, sensuality, discreet beauty._

 

Isabelle decided  making dinner on Christmas Eve to celebrate the holiday, everyone thought it was a good idea as  long as she was not the one who was going to cook.

"You should call Magnus, Alec, after all, it's time for him to meet the Institute." Izzy said after convincing everyone to throw the party.

"Do you think Jace would allow that? Because he and Clary are the Directors here." Alec said snapping his shoulders.

"Dude, if you wanted to bring an ox here and make him your pet, Jace would allow it, and he would name it Jace Jr.” Alec started to laugh as he imagined Jace calling an ox   ‘Jace Jr’.

"But are you sure no one else will come here?" Alec said looking at Izzy seriously.

"Well, it’s us and the Blackthorns." Alec nodded and picked up his cell phone. "I think Mark will bring his boyfriend." Izzy said and Alec could hear the sound of his heels hitting the floor.

He dialed Magnus' number and put the phone to his ear, and on the third ring the call was answered.

_"Hi, Angel."_

"Magnus, I'm not an angel."

 _"You are to me."_ Alec could see Magnus saying this with his eyes shining and a big smile on his lips.

"You're never going to stop this, are you?"

 _"Never, my little angel."_ Alec rolled his eyes. _"I can see you rolling your eyes, Alexander. To what do I owe the honor of   your call?"_

"I think you're a clairvoyant at times. Anyway, Isabelle has planned a dinner party on Christmas Eve, I know it's kind of late, but I wanted to know if you want to come here, to spend Christmas with me, since you ask me so much to know where I live and if you're not busy, of course. "

 _"I thought that mundanes were forbidden in the holy territory of nephilims_." Alec laughed.

"Kinda forbidden, kinda not forbidden. Just so you know, I don’t understand that crappy law either."

_"If you don’t understand, imagine me. But, no, I won’t be doing anything on Christmas Eve, so I can certainly spend the holidays with you."_

"Oh, okay, you're not allergic to any kind of food, right?"

_"No, I’m not, so you don’t need to worry."_

"See you Friday, then?"

_"Sure, was that it?"_

"Yes, that's all."

Magnus murmured something in agreement and they both ended the call. Isabelle appeared again in the corridor by her heels.

"So, I talked to Jace about Magnus coming here and he said there's no problem at all." Izzy said putting a hand into the pocket of his coat. "And now I'm going to decorate the Institute with Clary."

"And you need all this?" Alec put his cell phone away.

"Of course you do, Alec, it's Christmas! We've never done it and it can be fun. Now come help me get  the boxes." Izzy said walking up the stairs to the basement.

Although they never celebrated Christmas, they adorned the Institute a few times, especially when they were little kids. Clary always had a taste for mundane traditions and this only increased when Simon joined the group.

After Izzy and Alec brought all the boxes into the living room, they opened them and Alec helped Jace put the tree in a corner of the room that did not bother and left Clary, Izzy and Simon decorating the rest of the Institute.

Max was with Livvy in California and as Izzy said she had called the Blackthorns to come to New York for Christmas, so he would come along.

It was not long before the four of them managed to finish decorating the Institute, which was filled with glitter, lights and Christmas balls, Alec confessed that it was a beautiful sight.

The rest of the week passed quickly, and the morning of Christmas Eve dawned with snow. The whole balcony and outside of the Institute was white because of the snow.

The Blackthorns were already in New York and everyone got excited about the snow, because living in California, snow was something that was very rare to see.

Everyone helped in the kitchen, except for Tavvy who was a child and Izzy who was taking care of the decor of everyone's places at the table and clothes (the part of the clothes she made a point of).

Around mid-afternoon, Alec picked up his cell phone and sent the address by SMS to Magnus, who quickly responded by saying that he would arrive in the early evening.

"So, Alec, fill me in on everything." Mark said sitting down next to Alec on the couch, the Blackthorn had a dishcloth hanging from his shoulder.

"There's nothing too new, I guess." Alec said with a shrug.

"Are you still with that mundane?" Mark said leaning back on the couch.

"Yes, he is coming here, actually."

"Oh, so you told him about being a Shadowhunter."

"I didn’t tell you that? I think I told him last month." Alec said leaning back on the couch and folding his arms across his chest.

"No, you did not tell me. Incidentally, you have not been talking to me since I went back to Los Angeles, I hate that, you know?"

"Well, that's annoying, Mark, but you've been busy, haven’t you? Director business and stuff." Alec said and Mark sighed.

"I don’t do anything most of the time." Mark said looking at the Christmas drawing on television.

Alec took a deep breath and Mark turned his eyes from the television to Alec, who looked weird.

"You look passionate." Mark mumbled and Alec felt his ears warm.

"And passion has a face?" Alec frowned at Mark.

"Passion not love." Mark smiled and Alec frowned. "Oh, my God, that mundane man really hooked you, didn’t he? And that's why he's coming here! If it was any little passion you would not even have mentioned that you’re a nephilim."

"Mark, shut up, you have nothing better to do, I don’t know, Skype sex with Kieran or anything else that does not involve me?" Alec said and Mark started to laugh.

"No, Kieran is with his father at the court, and it's fun to see your love face. I didn’t believe when Jace told me, you know?” Mark said taking control and changing channels.

"And you're a jerk, you know that?" Alec said rising from the sofa, Mark grabbed his hand and looked at him.

"Where are you going? Don’t leave me." Mark said and Alec rolled his eyes.

"You look like a kid, I'm going to take a shower because I smell like chicken and tomato sauce." Mark released Alec's hand.

"Now I have to watch this thing alone, I won’t tell you if Barbie is going to hire everyone back or if she's going to be alone for Christmas." Alec turned to Mark.

"I've already watched this movie, she hires everyone back and gets the spirit of Christmas again, and her name is Eden. And now the little fairy is going to show what her life will look like in the future." Mark frowned and looked at Alec who was standing at the door with his arms folded.

"I have younger sisters and you're the one who's watched this movie?" Alec shrugged and kept walking to his room.

There was a change of clothes on his bed, a blue and black wool sweater and dark jeans, probably Izzy who had left them there.

He looked at the schedule on his cell phone and it was just after seven o'clock, he had a message from Magnus saying that he would arrive at eight o'clock.

"Oh, shit." Alec realized he still had his clothes full of food and smelled like a restaurant cook.

He dropped his cell phone on the bed and took off his clothes, grabbed a towel and went to the bathroom. He took a not so long shower and left with the towel tied around his waist.

He wore the clothes that Izzy had put out for him and wore a jacket over it, since he would have to wait for Magnus outside the Institute, because only nephilims could open the door of the Institute.

Clary and Jace were finishing their shift in the kitchen and the rest of the people were in the room watching the movie " _Barbie in a Christmas Carol"_ in the living room along with Mark. Alec thought it was a totally comic scene, a lot of teenagers watching a Barbie movie.

Alec watched the presents under the Christmas tree in the corner of the room. Christmas was a hot time, Alec never understood why the shadowhunters didn’t celebrate, though no holiday was ever celebrated, which was kind of sad.

The older Lightwood sat on the arm of the couch next to Mark, who was with Tavvy in the lap and the two were paying attention in the film that was almost at the end.

When he felt his cell vibrate, Alec reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, there was a message from Magnus.

 

**_"So I'm here, but all I see is a gothic-looking church." - Magnus._ **

_"Wait for me, I'm coming." - Alec._

 

Alec quickly typed and got up from the couch, closed his jacket and put his hands in his pocket.

The Institute, because of the heater, had a pleasant temperature, different from the outside, which was snowing incessantly. Alec felt his cheeks freeze as he passed the large doors of the Institute.

"You didn’t mention that you lived in a Gothic church, Alexander." Magnus said seeing Alec, who smiled.

"Who said I live in a Gothic church? It just looks like a Gothic church." Alec said walking to Magnus and leaving a kiss on his lips.

"The sight again?"

Alec nodded and Magnus bit his lip, he was really struggling to break that wall of worldly vision, it was not easy, but neither was it impossible, according to what Alec said.

"Don’t worry, even I see how huge a church sometimes, the magic is very strong, now let's get in there, it's freezing." Alec said and Magnus nodded, following him to the door.

Alec crossed the door and the heat shock was momentary, took off his jacket and left it on his arm, at some point he would take it to his room.

Magnus's first reaction was a small scare, the inside was nothing he imagined.

The walls had the rustic appearance of old buildings and buildings, but the paintings were current, the floor was a dark floor and reflected light that was trapped in the ceiling, there were runes everywhere. Magnus watched carefully as Alec looked at him with a slight smile.

"Cool, right?" Alec said as Magnus realized he was watching him.

"It's ... Different, a good different.” Magnus said still looking at the rustic way.

"Come on, I'll show you the rest." Alec said as he started to walk around, and Magnus followed.

The next room was the room where everyone was watching another Christmas movie, and it was not Barbie's, at least, Alec thought.

Magnus looked at the well-organized Christmas decorations and the huge tree at the far end of the room, the blinkers were on, making the room look different.

"It's not always so quiet." Alec said and Magnus laughed.

"I can imagine." Magnus murmured as they left the room.

"This is the kitchen, there must be a disaster inside because Jace is cooking, and there the dining room. Behind that door is the Library. "

"It does not look that big on the outside." Magnus said as they walked down the hall.

"You get used to it over time." Alec said opening the door of his room, came in quickly and Magnus followed. "And here is my room."

Alec left his jacket on a chair and Magnus took off his coat, leaving only a thin sleeveless top.

"More organized than mine." Magnus said and Alec sat on the bed.

"I'll tell you a secret: I just cleaned because you would come here." Alec blinked at Magnus, who laughed softly.

"No need." Magnus sat down next to Alec and pulled out a small box from his pocket. "I bought something for you, for both of us actually."

"You didn’t have to spend money on presents, Magnus." Alec said raising his blue eyes to Magnus'.

"But I wanted to. It's just something simple, but I thought it was cute." Magnus opened the little box and they were two little chains, their pendants together forming a heart.

The two had flowers drawn on the back, the front of which contained the initials of the two, M and A.

"I found it at the jewelry store near college and I had our initials engraved." Magnus said taking the one with the initial of his name.

"They ... are beautiful, Magnus." Magnus had a smile on his lips at this.

Alec lowered the collar of his sweater and turned his back to Magnus to put the chain around his neck. Magnus put the chain with his initial on Alec's neck, and Alec did the same with Magnus.

"I love it." Alec said and they both smiled. "By the way, I love everything that comes from you."

"You spoil me, Alexander." Magnus said, approaching Alec.

"And who said that's a bad thing?" Alec said placing a hand on Magnus' shoulder and kissing him.

Alec heard knocks on the door, the two parted and Alec muttered a loud intake, the door opened and Clary entered.

"Hi, Magnus, I didn’t know you had arrived yet." She said with a friendly expression. "Izzy is calling everyone into the room, do not ask me why, I do not know."

"Alright, we're going." Clary nodded and left the room, leaning against the door. "I just hope she doesn’t give a speech."

"But why not?" Magnus said rising.

"Because she tends to make a few speeches ... Strange, I do _not_ know how to define that." Magnus raised an eyebrow at Alec. "Let's go."

Alec opened the bedroom door and the two left, everyone was in the room, except Izzy.

"I can’t believe Isabelle has messed up my movie and she’s not even here yet." Mark said crossing his arms and Jace slapped him already head.

"Grow up, man, just grow up." Jace said looking at Mark with half-closed eyes.

"Tell that to your parabatai, he who watches Barbie movie." Mark said looking away from Jace to Alec.

"Alec, my dear parabatai, you don’t help me like that.” Jace said throwing himself on the couch and Alec rolled his eyes.

"What is a parabatai?" Magnus asked looking at Alec.

"It's a bit difficult to explain, it's a connection between two people who are already close, like when they are already best friends, you know? It's something emotional and physical, that if he gets hurt I end up hurting myself too, and vice versa. " Alec said trying to give a simpler explanation to Magnus.

"It seems to be something strong." Magnus muttered and Isabelle arrived.

It was important for Alec to have Jace as his counterpart, he grounded him, especially now with Magnus. People had a hard vision of Jace, as if he were some kind of rock, but those who  really knew him knew it was totally the opposite.

"So Simon told me that this exchange of gifts happens in the morning or midnight, but since we have to be alert later and Tavvy has to sleep, let's do it now." Izzy said and Tavvy celebrated.

Clary started by handing one of the gifts to Simon, who took one, read the name that was written and handed it to Jace and so on until it was all over.

Simon and Mark set the table for dinner, and Alec watched Tavvy play with the cars he had received. The rest of the night was quiet.

"You can pick up my sweatpants if you want, there on the front door of the wardrobe." Alec said taking off his sneakers.

Magnus nodded and opened the door to Alec's wardrobe, it was all arranged so he did not take long to find a pair of sweatpants, since they were about the same height, Magnus knew the pants would fit. The two had been dating for five months now and had seen each other without clothes several times, so it was no problem for Magnus to change clothes in front of Alec.

"Are you sure I can stay? I mean, I remember what you told me about mundanes who are not refugees being banned from the Institute." Magnus said sitting down next to Alec on the bed.

Alec laughed weakly, throwing his head back, leaving Magnus half lost. Alec swallowed dryly laughing, looked at Magnus and took his hand as he stared into Magnus's brown eyes, which were serious.

"Don’t worry, OK?" Alec murmured, taking his fingers to her lips and kissing them gently. "And don’t they say that everything that is forbidden is tastier?"

"Well, killing people is forbidden." Magnus said and Alec let go of Magnus' hands, looking at him with narrowed eyes.

"Sometimes you make some strange comparisons, you know, and it is not forbidden to bring mundanes to the Institute, it is not recommended when they know nothing about the world of shadows, and you know.” Alec said, and Magnus relaxed his shoulders.

Alec smiled that he had convinced Magnus and tossed the duvet into the bed, stretching it out. The two of them lay down and Magnus wrapped his arm around Alec's waist, hugging his boyfriend.

 "Good night, Angel." Magnus said and Alec smiled as he fell asleep.

 

_He was in a huge house, a labrador ran down the hallway behind a little boy who looked no more than ten years old._

_"Daddy, help me." The little boy shouted laughing, playing with the dog that was hugging him with both front paws._

_"Max, he just wants some care.” Magnus said appearing on the scene, he looked older, something more than thirty years old. "Take care of him."_

_Max looked at Magnus and ran his little hands over the dog's ears, which in Max's eyes started to smile at him._

_"How was it at the publisher, love?" Alec felt the words come out of his mouth as he turned off the television._

_"It was great, they are going to publish my book and are interested in a sequel." Magnus said sitting down next to Alec. "They will only do a few editions and, according to Miss Jones, they will already be in the bookstores in the summer."_

_"That's.. Great, I'm proud of you." Alec said and Magnus kissed him, smiling between the kisses._

_When the two separated, Alec looked at his arms, there was no rune, not even his chest. Alec thought that was strange._

_"Whats wrong?" Magnus asked, looking at the expression on Alec's face._

_"Nothing ... just” Alec felt a pang in his temple and forgot all that concern. "I'm only half-here, I spent all day playing with Max, he does not get tired at all."_

_"I think kids are like that. Go take a shower and a headache pill, I'll take the little beast for now." Magnus said leaving a kiss on top of Alec's head and going after Max._

_Alec blinked twice quickly, his head was totally messed up and he ended up waking up._

"Alec!" Maryse's voice ran through the room, and Alec woke up in alarm.

 "Mom? What are you doing here?" Alec asked frowning and looking at Magnus who was still sleeping beside him.

Maryse looked at the man beside her son, and looked back at Alec.

"Get ready and meet me in the hallway." Maryse said and left the room.

Alec got out of bed and ran his hand over his face. He reached for his slippers around the room and put them on. He looked at Magnus and he was still in a deep sleep. A voice inside told him that he was totally fucked. His mother showed up at the Institute right when Magnus was there wasn’t in his plans.

He moistened his lips and left the room. Maryse was far ahead, propped against the wall and with an expression that Alec could not identify.

"A mundane, Alec? A mundane? Of all people who are homosexual, like you, couldn’t you find one who was also nephilim?" Maryse said in a hard voice, and Alec leaned against the wall. "Don’t look at me like that. You know I only want what’s the best for you."

"I know, mom." Alec answered quietly, and Maryse sighed and bit her lip. Standing up from the wall. She walked over to Alec and looked him in the eye.

"Just tell me, do you love him?" Maryse asked in a calmer voice.

"I do." Alec answered in a broken voice.

"Since when is this happening? You and him, together."

"July, since July." Alec answered and Maryse took a deep breath. She put her hand on her waist and thought for a second.

"You're happy, right? With him?" Alec nodded, watching his mother. "I'm not going to tell anyone. You're happy, that's all that matters."

Alec frowned, that was totally weird. His mother never did that. Jace appeared in the hall, looked at Maryse and Alec, his eyes were wide-eyed, as if he knew Maryse had discovered about Alec and Magnus.

Jace looked at Alec and murmured that he wanted to talk to him later, Alec nodded and turned his eyes to his mother again, who noticed Jace there.

"Jace, I want to talk to you, wait for me in the Director's office, okay?" Maryse said, and Jace nodded, walking to the Director's office.

"Why are you not going to tell anyone?" Alec asked confused.

"Because you're not a child, Alec, you know what you’re doing. And if you want to be with this mundane man and you're happy about that choice, who am I to say anything? But I can not guarantee your father won’t find out about it one day. I won’t say a thing, but he is the Inquisitor. " Maryse said in her softest voice.

"Thank you, mom." Alec said and Maryse snorted.

"Don’t thank me." Maryse said and walked off to Jace and Clary's office.

Alec took a deep breath and brought his hand up to the door handle of his bedroom, opened it and Magnus was sitting facing him, his gaze far away, the moment Alec walked through the door, his eyes stared at him.

 


	10. Lotus

**_Lotus_ **

_Purity, perfection, wisdom, peace, sun, prosperity, energy, fertility, birth, rebirth, sexuality and sensuality._

 

Magnus bit his lip at the sight of Alec's gaze on him, finished tying his shoes and got up from the  bed. Alec followed him without saying anything, as if he knew that Magnus had listened to his conversation with Maryse.

The mundane walk to the door and left his hand on the doorknob, Alec was leaning against the wall next to the door, raised his eyes to the boyfriend and watched Alec moisten his lips, while Magnus looked dry.

"Where are you going?" Alec asked in a low voice and Magnus turned the knob.

"Home." Magnus stepped through the door and followed.

Alec's mother's words echoed through his mind, it was totally boring. Alec followed, Magnus stopped in the middle of the hall and looked at Alec. The place was completely silent and their voices echoed down the hall.

"Why?" Alec asked in a louder voice, and Magnus ran his hand across his forehead.

"I heard what your mother told you, Alec, why did not you tell me that the two of us together would cause so much trouble? If I had known none of that would have happened, I would not have fallen in love with you." Magnus said and swallowed dryly, Alec looked at him, his expression sad, as if Magnus' words hurt him.

"You don’t bring trouble to me, Magnus."

"And what did she tell you, Alexander?" Magnus's hands shook. "As if being mundane was a bad thing! And what the hell is that name? Mundane? It seems like me and all the other humans who are not part Angel were some kind of prostitutes, which I think is totally awful. "

Magnus took a deep breath, squeezed his thighs with shaking hands, Alec did not know what to say. Magnus was right, the nephilims referred to mundanes as if they were somehow superior.

"So, okay, I get it. Go make the rest of the world happy and get a nephilim boyfriend, you can get anyone in this fucking world, including me." Magnus said and Alec took a deep breath and walked to Magnus.

They were less than two feet from each other, and Magnus could feel Alec's heavy breathing against him. Alec took Magnus' hands and squeezed them lightly.

"You don’t understand? I don’t want the world, I want you. I do _not_ care if you're mundane or a fucking nephilim, it makes no difference to me, it's just a small thing. And, yes, there is a horrible prejudice with who is mundane in the world I live in, but it's the same way that there are prejudices all over the Earth, we can’t be stuck with them, otherwise we’ll never be happy." Alec took a deep breath, Magnus had his eyes watering and fixed on Alec.

"Alec, I..." Alec interrupted him.

"Let me finish, okay?" Magnus nodded, still looking at Alec. "You moved me, Magnus, in a way that I would never think I would be changed; before I met you, I was someone who let himself be broken by the happiness of others, but now... Ah, now I know I can be happy, that I can love and be loved, and you make me feel this way. You’ve taught me so many things, things that I didn’t even think could be learned.”

Alec broke the small space between him and Magnus, leaving their bodies glued, Alec fixed his forehead on Magnus’, leaving his eyes face to face, Magnus could see all the details of Alec's blue and strong irises.

"You think I'd be with you if you didn’t mean anything to me?" Alec said and Magnus shook his head in a negative tone. "Do you think I care what the rest of the world says? No, I don’t care at all, as long as I have you, I won’t care. "

Alec's eyes closed slowly, Magnus's hands were on his shoulders, squeezing them lightly, Alec opened his eyes again.

"I love you, Magnus Bane, and the fact that you are a mundane and I’m a nephilim, will not change what I feel for you." Alec said and Magnus joined his lips to his boyfriend's, in a long kiss.

Alec was shaking inside, he would never think he could make such a speech, but the words came out as easily as if he were already engraved in his mind, but no, he didn’t even know his mother would show up, much less that Magnus would listen to everything that she had said.

"I...I'm sorry, okay?" Magnus muttered without leaving Alec. "I was being an asshole."

"No need to apologize," Alec said and wrapped his arms around Magnus, hugging him.

Magnus laid his head on Alec's chest and closed his eyes, felt his nostrils being impregnated by Alexander's scent.

"Why you don’t say things like that to me?" Alec heard Izzy say at the door of her room to Simon.

"You want it?" Simon said raising an eyebrow and Alec glared at them as Isabelle rolled her eyes.

Magnus lifted his eyes to Alec, stared at him until the moment Alexander looked at him with his pale blue irises, Magnus took a deep breath.

" I shouldn’t have freaked out like that. I should have listened to you, it was wrong of me, but I just didn’t want you in trouble because of me." Magnus said and Alec smiled, running his fingers slowly over Magnus' face.

"Don’t worry, you'll never bring me any trouble," Alec said and Magnus smiled without showing his teeth, Alec blinked slowly and left a kiss on Magnus' lips. "Now, you're not going to leave, right?"

"Only if you want me to go." Magnus said as the two parted.

"I'll never want you to leave," Alec said and Magnus felt his cheeks flush.

"Stop saying such things, Alec, I never know what to answer." Magnus said pretending he was angry and Alec laughed.

"Come on, I'll make breakfast for both of us," Alec said, wrapping his fingers around Magnus'.

"And the others?" Magnus asked looking at Alec out of the corner of his eye, while his brows were wrinkled.

"They can do for themselves," Alec said and they walked into the kitchen. "Sit down, if you're hungry, we should have something in the refrigerator."

"No, I'm fine," Magnus said, and Alec nodded.

Magnus pulled out a chair and sat down at the table as he watched Alec slam into the closet.

"What are you doing exactly at this... Institute?" Magnus asked, still looking at Alec.

"Ah, we live here and train here. There is at least one in every state and every country you can imagine - England, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, all. "

"And no one ever notices you? Wow, that's ... amazing. "Magnus said and Alec laughed at his reaction.

"Sometimes you see, because there are those born with the vision or the children of exiled hunters, but most of the time they get recruited as well." Alec replied by placing the coffee pot on the table.

Alec finished picking up the rest of what they would eat for breakfast and set it down on the table, sat down in the chair in front of Magnus shortly after handing a cup to him.

"You're going to end up making me uncomfortable, Alexander." Magnus said, looking into Alec's eyes, who blinked at him.

"I told you this is not a bad thing, love. I like doing it." Magnus shook his head as Alec took his hand.

"Stop, Alec, you don’t want to see me being lazy, really. It's a tragic thing. "Magnus said cutting the bread.

"If you say so," Alec said and Magnus narrowed his eyes as he stared at him.

Alec looked at Magnus, it didn’t look like the two were fighting less than an hour ago, Alec loved Magnus and Magnus loved Alec, it would not be a stupid fight that would change that.

It was strange, but in less than a year of relationship, Alec already felt totally trapped and given to Magnus, not that it was a bad thing, it was something good and exciting. Magnus knew Alec in a way no one had known before, not even himself.

Magnus made Alec feel things he had never felt before, Alec felt free, passionate, chosen, happy. They hadn’t been together for too long, but it was as if Alec had already found who he wanted to spend the rest of his life next to, that was a strange thought because he was only 25 years old.

Alec heard steps in the hall, thought it was Isabelle, but it was Maryse. She went into the kitchen and looked at Alec and Magnus.

"So, it was you who got my son?" Maryse said looking at Magnus, Alec could not figure out what was going on in his head.

"Mrs. Lightwood, it's a pleasure to meet you, I’m Magnus." Magnus held out his hand to Maryse and she squeezed it.

"Please call me Maryse, I'm not that old." She looked at Alec, who had a small smile on the corner of his mouth.

"Okay, Maryse," Magnus said, and Alec's mother nodded.

"Alec, I have to go back to Idris now, I just came to say goodbye." Maryse said looking at her son.

"Already?" Alec asked with a frown.

"Yes, I just had to get some files for the Clave. They wanted to send a student, but since my kids are here and one of them is the Director, I thought I'd better come." Maryse said and squeezed Alec's shoulder.

"Ah, okay, I understand, you have classes to give at the Academy," Alec said and Maryse said goodbye to him and Magnus, and went out the door.

Alec was very surprised that his mother was nice, that didn’t happen very often, but he decided not to mention anything and to make it quiet, it was good to have his mother less rigid.

"Classes? On holidays? "Magnus asked as Maryse left.

"We, shadowhunters, don’t celebrate any holidays. Yesterday, that Isabelle and I wanted to do and everyone here found it interesting. "Alec said without looking at Magnus.

"Was it your first Christmas yesterday?" Magnus asked and Alec nodded.

 

 

**Seven months later**

 

Magnus stretched the towel on the floor and lay down looking up, Alec lay with his head resting on Magnus' chest, which shook his hair.

"Did you know that trees also have meanings? The one there, for example, is a plum tree and it means aid, protection and beauty." Magnus said pointing to a tree next to them.

"I thought you only knew about flowers, Magnus," Alec said looking at Magnus.

"I know about a lot of things," Magnus said with a smile on his lips.

"You're very convincing," Alec murmured and Magnus laughed.

"That one there, I think it's an apple tree, and they mean love and eternity."

"It seems everything in nature has a beautiful meaning," Alec said with a frown.

"Not everything." Magnus sat down and Alec did the same, in front of him. "There’s one that means sorrow and anguish, I can’t remember the exact name right now; Calla Lily means indifference; Gentian, pain; Daisies means ingratitude, passionflower flowers mean broken heart, daffodils mean selfishness. There aren’t many, but there are several kinds of meanings."

"I always thought sunflower was good, because it was connected to the sun." Alec said looking at the sun, which was in the middle of the sky.

"Yeah, some flowers can fool you." Magnus smiled and looked at Alec. "Alec, I have something to talk to you about."

Alec looked away from the sun at Magnus, who was looking at him seriously.

"What’s wrong?" Alec asked, startled.

"Relax, it's not bad at all." Magnus changed his expression and Alec relaxed his shoulders. "It's July 6th, it's been a year since the two of us started dating and a year and two months we're together, I know it's not that long, but I already feel like I've been with you all my life . "

Magnus fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a small white flower and handed it to Alec, he had already seen one of those in Magnus' family store, it was an orange blossom, meant engagement.

"I know there are big differences between the two of us, mainly because you're a nephilim, but I really love you, and I totally forget those differences when we're together."

Alec already knew what was happening.

"If you think I’m rushing into something, please tell me." Magnus fumbled in his other pocket and pulled out a red box from inside. "Alexander Gideon Lightwood, will you marry me?"

Magnus opened the box, showing two silver rings. Alec's eyes widened.

"By the Angel! Magnus... Yes, a thousand times yes, I marry you. "Alec answered and Magnus smiled, kissing him.

When the two separated, Magnus placed the ring on Alec's ring finger, and he did the same with Magnus.

"You're crazy," Alec replied, his face close to Magnus'.

"Crazy for you." Magnus kissed him.

" _Alexander_." A thick, firm voice sounded behind them.

Magnus and Alec parted, Alec looked up, seeing his father looking at the two with a not good face.

"Dad? What are you doing here?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am so sorry


	11. Camellia

**Camellia**

_Greatness of the soul, faithfulness, the perfect perfect, recognition, sincerity, dawn, beginning of something new._

The Lightwood house in Idris seemed darker and colder than usual. Alec was tired, but his body would not turn off and he kept pacing. He couldn’t understand how his father had discovered about his relationship with Magnus, it was totally strange.

Alec sat on the floor, his back against the cold wall, all the lights were off and he was alone in that huge house, it was distressing. He looked at his hand, the engagement ring that Magnus had given him two days ago glittered in his hand. Magnus was the only thing that went through his mind.

The door opened suddenly and Alec looked up, it was Jace, who slipped in quietly and walked over to Alec, sitting beside him on the floor.

"Where is he? Where is Magnus? They're not letting me out of here." Alec said desperately, and Jace grabbed his arm.

"Alec, calm down, okay?" Jace said looking Alec in his eyes. "Magnus is in the Council room, Mark is there with him."

Alec took a deep breath and Jace let go of his arm.

"He had asked me to marry him, Jace," Alec said, looking at the white wall in front of him and squeezing his hand with the ring.

Jace frowned and looked at Alec's hand in the ring.

"It's beautiful," Jace muttered and stared at the same wall as Alec. "Alec, you have a choice to make. You know that, right? "

"I know," Alec said, narrowing his eyes.

"Whatever you choose, Alec, I'll be there to support you. I just don’t want you to get hurt. "

"Is it wrong for me to have no idea what to do? Whatever I choose, I end up running away from something. "Alec squeezed his temples.

"If he submits to the Chalice ..." Alec interrupted him and looked at Jace.

"He could die, Jace, or turn into a renegade, he's no longer a teenager and you know what the chances of survival are when you're in your twenties." Alec said seriously and Jace swallowed.

"You're right," Jace said in a steady voice, he knew it, Magnus had zero chances of being alive if he drank from the Mortal Cup.

They both knew what the options were, and Jace knew Alec would not break up with Magnus, especially now that they were engaged.

The door opened again, Alec looked up and was his father. He felt a pang inside himself and rose quickly, looked at his father once more, and walked out into the hall.

"Why ..." Robert said and Jace interrupted him as he got up.

"No, don’t even start." Jace said bravely and went after his parabatai. "Alec, open the door, it's me," he said as he reached the door of Alec's bedroom.

"It's open." Jace heard Alec's voice and turned the knob, entered the room and closed the door behind him.

Alec sat on the bed, his back against the head of the bed. Jace sat on the edge of the bed and looked at the parabatai.

"Why did he have to do this?" Alec said in a choked voice, Jace could see his eyes watering. "I hate him. Why doesn’t let me be happy? "

Jace didn’t know if it was because of the connection, but he was totally destroyed by that, he couldn’t bear to see Alec like that. The Herondale boy moved closer to Alec and hugged him.

"It'll all work out, Alec," Jace said, leaning his chin against Alec's shoulder.

"It won’t. Either way, someone's going to get hurt, "Alec said, taking a deep breath. "I never wanted things to get to that point."

"Alec, look at me."

Jace said and Alec looked at him, his blue eyes were red.

"It's not like you could have chosen that, I'm sure if it was a choice, you'd rather it had not happened. I know this entire situation sucks and that all the Clave laws can be totally stupid, but you'll get through it, okay? You’e strong and you have me, Mark, your siblings, Magnus and all the Blackthorns. We'll support you in any decision you make. "Jace said wiping the tears that fell on Alec's face with his thumb.

 

The door to Alec's room was opened and Robert appeared there, Alec turned his face making the older Lightwood roll his eyes.

"Jace, can you please let me talk to my son?" Robert said seriously and Jace looked at Alec, who nodded.

Jace released Alec and looked at Robert, leaving the room shaking his head in a negative sign. Jace was always grateful to Robert for having welcomed him when his father died, but at that moment he was on the side of his brother, Alec was more important.

"Alec, you have to understand me, I just did it for your own sake," Robert said and Alec wiped his face and squinted.

"I have to understand? How to get me away from the person I love is for my sake? "Alec said totally angry.

"Love? What do you know about love, Alexander? You're only twenty-six. "Robert said crossing his arms.

"More than you, apparently, who spent years unhappy with my mom." Alec said and his chest ached, it was wrong to throw it in his father's face, but he was not saying anything at the moment.

Robert snorted and glared at Alec.

"What would they think of our family, Alec? Are you dating a mundane man? Part of you being gay I understand, my parabatai is also. But, a mundane? Shame we wouldn’t go through with this! What happened to you and Mark? You looked so happy. "

"Ah, so that's why. I knew it was not because of me, it was because of your totally selfish motives. You don’t want the beautiful name of our family to be soiled. Guess what, he's already spotted," Alec shouted. "and Mark left me more than a year ago for a Seelie, I thought you knew that; not that I care."

"Alexander, don’t talk to me like that. I am your father."

"I don’t care." Alec said looking at the wall. "Now if you don’t leave I'll go, I'm sure Jace would let me stay at his house."

Robert shook his head and left Alec's room.

"You're making a mistake." Robert said at the door, Alec looked at him and the next moment Robert disappeared into the hallway.

Alec took a deep breath and snorted in anger, hit the pillow and Jace appeared there.

"Are you okay?" Jace asked looking at Alec, who shook his head.

"I just... I just want to be alone for a while, okay?" Jace nodded and left, leaving Alec alone.

Jace went down the stairs and sat on the sofa in the living room, it was just after five in the afternoon and the lights of Idris were being turned on, illuminating the room.

There was a knock on the door and he rose again, going to the door and opening it. It was Clary, he walked away from the door and she stepped inside.

Consuela had said that she needed a representative from the New York Institute, whom Alec attended at the meeting, Jace had said she would rather keep it, so Clary ended up going.

"Is the meeting over?" Jace asked closing the door.

"Not yet, but they dismissed me." Clary said after Jace nodded to her.

"What did they ask?" Jace asked, staring at Clary.

"They asked if you and I knew about Alec's relationship with Magnus, and I said yes. Then they made a lot of accusations against us, about covering up an illegality and taking drastic measures." Clary said as she sat on the arm of the sofa.

"And what did you say?" Jace said in front of Clary, who sighed and put his hand on her thighs.

"I defended Alec, of course. Maryse and Mark were also there, and they defended Alec as well. Probably the four of us will be punished for it." Clary muttered and Jace rolled his eyes.

"I don’t care." Jace said walking around the house. "That's just ... So wrong! Why can’t people just be with whomever they want? The Clave is so stupid. "Jace snapped and Clary followed him with his eyes.

"I agree, but we don’t make the law," Clary said and Mark appeared.

 

" _Lex malla, lex nulla. _ **A bad law is no law**__ _,"_ Mark said crossing his arms. "Some idiots took me from there, according to them outsiders couldn’t stay in the session, but they didn’t take Aline because she’s Consuela's daughter."

"I hate the Clave, I want to kill them," Jace said in disgust.

"Jace, calm down." Clary said trying to calm Jace.

"How am I going to calm down, Clary? He’s my parabatai, he’s one of the two most important people of my life. I don’t know how my life would be without Alec, I... I don’t know. "Jace said throwing himself on the couch.

"How is he? Alec. I saw Robert there in the square and he was fuming through his ears." Mark asked sitting next to Jace.

"Alec is terrible, he doesn’t know what to do. Robert was here, the two of them had a horrible fight, I thought they would come to blows." Jace said and Mark frowned.

Mark stared at the wall, _that was awful_. He thought the Clave had evolved and at least changed that law, but no, Mark was wrong. The three of them passed the time in silence, just looking at each other, until Jace's cell phone rang.

"Aline just sent me a message." Mark and Clary looked at Jace. "The meeting is over and Magnus and she are coming here."

"Should we go and warn Alec?" Clary asked, moistening her lips.

"Better not, Alec’s too bad, I can feel it, it will be worse if we keep talking about everything that happens to him. Magnus will get to him, "Jace said and they both nodded.

 

Minutes later, the doorbell rang and Clary stood up to open the door. Aline, Helen and Magnus entered. Magnus looked startled.

"Alec is up there. In the second room on the right, "Jace said as his eyes met those of Magnus. The mundane man nodded and went up the stairs.

He walked slowly to the room Jace had told him, took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"It's me, Alec," Magnus said in a steady voice and the door opened in the next few seconds.

Alec's eyes were red, that was the first thing Magnus noticed, his beautiful blue eyes were sad and red. It hurt inside.

Alec made room for Magnus to enter his room and closed the door behind him. Magnus noticed that the room was empty except for the single bed and a wardrobe in the back of the room. It was obvious that Alec didn’t frequent this place very often.

Alec sat on the bed, his back pressed to the headboard, and Magnus sat beside him.

"I'm going to do this, Alec, I'm going to become just like you and we can be together. No one is getting punished or injured because of this." Magnus said after several minutes of silence.

Alec turned his face and looked at Magnus, his hand took the man's hand and squeezed it, not so strong, but with apprehension.

"I'm not going to let you do this," Alec said in a strong, but broken voice. "You could die."

"But I won’t die, Alec," Magnus said, watching Alec's eyes steady over him. “I’m strong.”

"As long as there is a chance that you will die I will not be okay with it."

"But, Alec ..." The nephilim interrupted him.

"No, Magnus, don’t you understand? If you die I won’t survive. I can’t take it. I can’t stay in a world where you don’t exist." Alec said and felt his voice seizure. "I won’t let you under a suicidal process, not at all."

Magnus was silent, he did not know what to say.

"And what are we going to do?" Magnus asked after a long time.

"I don’t know. I've become totally selfish when it comes to you, Magnus, I don’t want to stay away from you anymore, much less be in a place where you're not. I didn’t say yes two days ago for nothing." Alec said moving the ring on his finger.

"Do you think I want to lose you, Alec? From the moment I saw you in my store you affected  me, I couldn’t get you off my mind for the whole week. I don’t even know where I got the nerve to give you my number. I don’t do that normally, you know that? I don’t go out giving my number to strangers, but there was something about you that touched me, that made me risk it. I even thought it was a mistake and that I was being totally crazy, and it turned out to be the best mistake I ever made in my life." Magnus said and Alec's eyes narrowed.

Alec turned to Magnus and leaned his forehead against his, leaving his eyes face to face. His lips brushed against a quick kiss.

"I don’t want to lose you," Alec said, his eyes still closed.

"You won’t lose me, Alexander," Magnus said, leaving a seal on the man's lips.

Alec took a deep breath and stepped away from Magnus, ran his right hand over his swollen eyes and blinked three times quickly. This was probably the worst idea he ever had.

Alec crawled across the bed and stood up, Magnus had a confused expression on his face, his gaze watching Alec as he paced the room.

"Where are you going?" Magnus asked seeing Alec with his hand on the knob.

"I know what I’m going to do," Alec said, looking at Magnus out of the corner of his eye.


	12. Acacia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for all the kudos, hits and comments so far!

**Acacia**

 

_Secret love, pure love, ideal love, proof of love, constancy, elegance._

 

Magnus got up from the bed in a leap, striding up to where Alec was, and set his hand on the door, preventing the Lightwood from opening it. Alec looked up at Magnus, staring at him seriously as he tried to open the door.

"You're joking, right?" Magnus asked, still holding the door.

"I'm not," Alec said earnestly, his voice steady.

"If I can’t submit to the cup you can _not_ give up on being a nephilim." Magnus said looking Alec in his eyes, which were hard, not blinking.

"I won’t die by doing this." Alec said, releasing the door.

"How can you be so sure of that, Alexander?" Magnus folded his arms and Alec took a deep breath.

"I just know, okay? It will be painful, but we'll be able to be together and I’m not going to die."Alec said and moistened his lips.

" _And I'm not going to die_ , are you at least hearing what you're saying? You won’t die, but you’ll forget everything, Alec, your family, your friends, your parabatai! You will lose everything you love. I can’t see you getting hurt because of me. "

"It's our only choice," Alec said, and Magnus swallowed dryly, remaining silent. "I'm sure they will understand, Jace said he would support me with anything."

Alec reached for the door again and opened it. Magnus followed him into the hallway and took his hand.

"They will only talk to you tomorrow, Alec, they closed the Council for meetings between the members. Take the night to think about this before doing something stupid." Magnus said in the softest voice.

"That's not stupid," Alec said and bit his lip. "If I have to give it up for you, that's what I'm going to do."

"Alec ..." Magnus began, but Alec interrupted him.

"There's nothing left to say, I've made my decision, I knew what I was getting into when I started dating you. I can even take the night to think, but the first thing I'm going to do tomorrow morning is go talk to the Council. "

Magnus looked at Alec with a look of disengagement, there was not much he could do at that moment.

"Is this what you really want?" Magnus asked and Alec nodded. "I never thought I'd be worth that much to anyone," Magnus said, dropping Alec's arm.

"To me, you are," Alec said and Magnus smiled shyly.

"And what about your family?" Magnus asked after a few minutes of silence.

"I need to talk to Izzy and Max, my mom too, maybe, but with my dad I don’t care." Alec muttered with a shrug.

Magnus leaned against the wall and stared at the front wall where Alec was.

"Am I going to lose my memories too?" Magnus asked and Alec looked up at him from the corner of his eye.

"I don’t know, but probably yes" Alec answered and Magnus nodded.

"You should go talk to Jace, he's… really worried down there," Magnus said as he stared into Alec's blue eyes, raising an eyebrow. "Just promise me you won’t do anything without talking to him. He's your parabatai and from what you told me that's something important. "

"I will. Why don’t you get your things to stay here while I talk to him? "Alec asked and Magnus nodded.

The two of them went down the stairs, Mark, Clary, Jace, Helen and Aline were still there and when they arrived they took their eyes to them.

"Jace, I have to talk to you," Alec said earnestly and Jace frowned as he got up from the couch. "Out there."

Jace nodded and Alec looked at Magnus before he went through the door, he was staring at him sadly.

"What is it?" Jace asked worriedly.

"I talked to Magnus and... I made my decision," Alec said with his hands in his pockets.

"Oh, that's good. What are you going to do? "Jace asked looking at Alec steadily.

"I'm going to relinquish my position in the Conclave," Alec said looking at the trees ahead of him, not to look at Jace.

"Wait... what?" Jace said confusedly, and Alec looked at him. "Does that mean you're not going to be a shadowhunter anymore?" Alec nodded.

Jace felt as if someone had stuck a knife inside him, though he knew that was one of the options, but it was still something sore.

 

"Tell me I made the wrong decision." Alec bit into his lower lip.

"I... I cannot tell you this," Jace said, running his hand through his blond hair. "That's... That's so… Wow."

"You're going to get hurt, Jace, because of me." Alec said staring into nowhere.

Jace sat on the wall of the Lightwood house, with Alec at his side, kicked a pebble there and looked up at the sky.

"I know," Jace said and Alec looked at him. "But you deserve to be happy."

Alec looked confused and looked at Jace with a frown.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that you deserve to be happy, Alec," Jace said, averting his eyes from the sky to Alec. "and I must be the best parabatai in the history of the parabatai for saying this, but you won’t be happy while under the laws of the Clave, and you are happy with Magnus."

"I told him I was sure of that decision, but I’m not. I will be totally selfish if I choose this, but I see no other way out. "

"I understand, Alec. But you've given up so much for others, you've done so much for others, why don’t do something for yourself? "Jace said putting his hand on Alec's shoulder.

"I'll forget about you, Jace, about my siblings, Mark, Helen, everyone." Alec said and Jace hugged him aside.

"We can get through it, and promise that we’ll always visit you. Even though you’re not gonna remember who we are. "Jace said in a choked voice. “And if that's what you want, I'll be there to support you."

 

 

**On the next day**

 

Alec woke up early, but not before everyone else in the house because he heard voices downstairs. Magnus' arms tightened around his waist, making their bodies stick together. The Lightwood removed Magnus' arms from around him and climbed out of bed. He took a deep breath, staring at the dark, cold room, and looked at Magnus, who was still asleep.

He left the room, closing the door slowly to not wake Magnus, went downstairs quickly and found Clary and Jonathan, her brother, downstairs. When Jonathan saw him, he ran to Alec with an unpleasant expression.

 

"Alec, by the Angel, I'm sorry, it's my fault that all this happened... I'm an idiot." Jonathan said desperately and Alec looked at him out of the corner of his eye.

"What are you talking about?" Alec asked huskily, still, because of sleep.

"I told Robert you were with Magnus three days ago. I thought he already knew, I had no idea that he was going to do all of this. "Jonathan said and Alec rolled his eyes.

"Well, that doesn’t help that much now.” Alec said as he headed into the kitchen, where Clary was angry.

"I can’t believe it, Jonathan, I'm going to kill you," Clary said, going up to him.

"Clary, no," Alec said holding her by the waist, as Clary was small, her only option was to fold. "Not worth it."

Clary glared at Jonathan, who left the kitchen the next second.

"Jace told me what you're going to do," Clary said as Alec sat down in the chair.

Magnus appeared in the kitchen minutes later and the three of them drank coffee. Alec asked where Jace was and Clary said he was with Maryse and Isabelle.

Alec finished his breakfast and went to his room with Magnus, who sat on the bed and looked at Alec.

"You didn’t tell me what you and Jace talked about," Magnus said as he watched Alec dig in his backpack that was in the corner of the room.

Lightwood took clothes from inside his backpack and set them on the bed. He sat down beside Magnus.

"I told him about what I decided and he supported me," Alec said and Magnus sighed.

"So are you really going to do this?" Magnus asked and Alec nodded. "I want to be there with you."

"You will be." Alec picked up Magnus' hand. "Come with me."

"Where?" Magnus asked standing up.

"Take a shower... with me," Alec said with a smirk on the corner of his mouth.

Magnus looked at Alec, who took the two towels that were hanging with his free hand and went to the bathroom.

The nephilim locked the door and left the towels on the fastener, opened the shower door and the two undressed. Alec pulled Magnus into the stall and kissed him. He turned on the shower that was warm. Alec pulled the short hair that grew on the back of Magnus' neck as they kissed.

Water pouring from the shower soaked their bodies, Magnus pushed Alec against the wall and brought his hand up to Alec's cock and slowly stroked it.

 

Alec deepened their kiss and let out a sigh, his hands gripping Magnus' back, scraping it with his short nails.

"I want you in me." Alec hissed in Magnus' ear, which felt the warm water soaking his back and Alec's touches.

Magnus nodded and Alec turned, with the help of the water, Magnus penetrated him slowly, watching his expressions so as not to hurt him. When it was completely inside Alec, he moved perfectly and carefully. Alec was very sensitive, Magnus was biting him while penetrating him and this made him reach orgasm quickly. Magnus came with a stifled, intense moan.

Magnus and Alec stood under the shower, feeling the warm water falling on their hair, Alec placed his hand on Magnus' face and left a kiss on his lips.

They finished bathing quickly and left the bathroom with their towels at their waist. They changed, and a few seconds later they heard someone knock on Alec's door.

"It's open, you can come in." Alec replied by wiping his hair with his towel.

The door opened and Jace appeared, he had an awkward look.

"Consuela has scheduled a Council meeting with you for today at 11 am," Jace said and Alec nodded.

"Thanks, Jace," Alec murmured, looking at Jace who winked at him and left the room.

Alec checked the time on his cell phone and it was just after ten o'clock. He put the phone in his pocket and turned to Magnus.

"I'd better go, it's already ten o'clock." Alec said leaving the towel where it was.

"I’m gonna go with you and stay in, I don’t know, in the square, maybe." Magnus shrugged and Alec nodded.

The two of them left the room, and down the stairs. Jace and Clary were chatting in the living room.

"It's already past ten o'clock, so I'd better go," Alec said to the two of them.

"This is not that we say that much, but... Good luck." Jace said taking Clary's hand, Alec nodded in thanks and left with Magnus.

The two walked side by side, hand in hand, some people looked at them, but Alec thought it had more to do with being the Inquisitor's son and dating a mundane than with them both being the same sex.

 

Alec heard a female voice shouting his name, released Magnus' hand and turned back. Aline was coming after them.

"Are you crazy?" She said as she stopped running when she was close to Alec. "Jace told me what you're going to do!"

"Aline..."

"I can talk to my mom, I can..." Alec rolled his eyes and cut her off.

"Nothing will make that change, Al, you could even try to talk to her, but as everyone says the law is hard, but it’s the law."

"I hate this thing," Aline said, snorting. "I wish there was something I could do."

"And I appreciate that, but I have to deal with it, okay?" She nodded and Magnus greeted her sheepishly.

Alec ran his hand over Aline's shoulder and walked back with Magnus toward the meeting room. By the time they arrived, it was five minutes to eleven o'clock.

"I have to go inside," Alec said, and Magnus mumbled some consent.

Alec left a kiss on Magnus' lips and pulled away from him with a smile.

"I love you," Alec said and walked into the conference room.

Magnus sighed and started walking to the square, which was on the next block.

The meeting took no more than an hour, and Alec found Magnus on a bench in the square. He sat down beside him, drawing his attention.

"My dad went crazy inside the room after I said what I decided," Alec said when Magnus was staring at him. "He said I would smear the family name even more, my mom hugged me and almost began to cry and Consuela already called a warlock to take us back to New York."

"This... is it going to happen at the Institute?" Alec nodded.

"It's more practical over there," Alec said, leaning his head on Magnus' shoulder. "I asked if I would forget about you."

"And what did they say?" Magnus asked, wrapping his fingers around Alec's.

"Not at all. There will only be a kind of alternate universe in my mind, where everything has happened differently. "Alec hissed and Magnus squeezed his hand.

"Are you sure that’s the best way out?" Magnus asked after a few minutes.

"It's our only way out." Alec answered and the two were silent.

After several minutes the two returned to the Lightwood house  and told everyone, began to pack their things and in the evening the warlock came to say that the Portal was ready.

 

 

*****

 

New York was hot and stuffy. The sun streamed through the windows of the Institute illuminating the room where everyone was. Alec had just entered the special room with the Silent Brother, and from the outside everyone was affected.

Magnus wanted to go with Alec, but the Silent Brother didn’t let anyone in, not even Alec's parabatai.

"Are you feeling anything?" Clary asked Jace, who paced the room.

"No," Jace answered nervously.

Izzy was crying in the corner of the room with Simon hugging her, Magnus felt guilty about all that. If he hadn’t handed that piece of paper with his number to Alec, he wouldn’t have been in love or would have been through it.

But Magnus didn’t know that Alec was a Nephilim, he didn’t know about any of these stupid laws.

A loud scream came out of the hall, everyone looked toward the door. Jace dropped to his knees on the floor, clutching Clary's hands.

Magnus' eyes filled with tears and he ran up from the bench, he wanted to go after Alec and didn’t want to hear that. Mark took him by the waist and held him, Magnus began to cry in Mark's arms.

Jace wrinkled his face in Clary's lap, his skin was completely red and his neck veins were bouncing.

The screams from the door of the room where Alec stood didn’t cease, Jace began to scream in pain together, Clary was sobbing with her head resting on Jace's.

Magnus dropped to the floor and Mark grabbed him, his face on his shoulder. Magnus sobbed.

"I... I don’t know if I can take it," Jace said in a totally weak voice, Clary's eyes were red.

Izzy was no longer in the room, much less Simon. Max's gaze was lost as Livvy hugged him.

Jace fainted at Clary's feet, who stepped out of the chair where he was and sat on his lap, hugging Jace's faint body.

Magnus wanted to run, wanted to scream, wanted to get Alec out of that room, wanted to make it all stop.

The screams grew weaker and weaker until they ceased. Magnus despaired, thinking Alec was dead. His hands were crimson from the ground.

"Let me go, I want to see him." Magnus said trying to loosen himself from Mark's grip, but he did not let it.

"No, Magnus, not now," Mark said earnestly, trying to disguise his clipped voice.

Several minutes passed, and the only thing that was heard by the Institute was Magnus' murmurs, the cry of Clary and Isabelle screaming and throwing things in some part of the Institute.

A woman with red hair appeared in the room, startling them. Everyone's gaze settled on her, and she cleared her throat.

"Magnus? Come with me." She said looking at Magnus, who was still sitting on the floor, with Mark at his side.

Magnus looked at Mark, who released him. The mundane man rose and went to the woman, his hands trembling.

"I'm Natalie, I'm going to finish the process, but for this I need you two together to make it perfect." Magnus nodded as he wiped his face.

The two walked to the room where Alec was, the Silent Brother was through the doorway and out of sight when Magnus and Natalie appeared.

Natalie opened the door and she and Magnus walked in. Magnus ran to Alec, who was lying on the bed all sweaty and bloody.

"M... Mag..." Magnus interrupted him.

"Don’t say anything, save your strength." Magnus said taking his hand, and running his other free hand on Alec's forehead. "My angel, my little angel," Magnus murmured, leaving a kiss on Alec's forehead.

Alec's blue eyes were aching and seemed to close at any moment.

"I have to finish this, okay?" Natalie said quietly, coming close to her eyes. Magnus nodded. "Give me your hands."

Alec lifted his hand with difficulty and handed it to Nat, Magnus did the same. The warlock murmured a few words that Magnus didn’t understand and seconds later Magnus fainted next to Alec.


	13. Daisy

**_Daisy_ **

_Innocence, youth, virginity, sensitivity, purity, peace, kindness, affection._

The elevator wasn’t working, so Magnus ran up the stairs. When he reached the fifth floor, he felt his lungs burn and he took a deep breath.

He walked normally this time, looking for the corridor that had number 568 on one of the doors. He found Anne in the hallway and saw that the number he was looking for was on the door behind her.

"How's he doing?" Magnus asked as he reached the girl's side.

"Magnus! I was going to call you." She said shaking her cell phone and putting it in her pocket. "He's fine, he just shifted his shoulder, but he already has a sling." Anne said opening the door.

"Tell me again what happened?" Magnus asked as they entered the room.

"We were both coming back from the gym, a guy was going to mug me, but Alec gave a ninja move and took the gun away from the guy, except there was a huge staircase next to where we were and the guy knocked him down, chasing after him. Outcome: That whole broken up guy on the floor and the thief without my money or my stuff." Anne said folding her arms and Alec laughed.

"I'm not a ninja," Alec said as he sat on the hospital bed. "But what I did was pretty badass."

"Hi, my American Jackie Chan." Magnus said sitting on Alec's bed and leaving a kiss on his lips. "You scared me."

"I promise I'll never do that again," Alec said and felt his ribs ache. "It feels like I got hit by a truckload of potato sacks."

"You never learned when you were a child that you should not fight muggings, Alexander? Are you crazy?" Magnus said, pretending he was angry. "You could have been shot."

Magnus heard knocks on the door and took his gaze to her, a dark-haired doctor entered the room on leave.

"Anne Callahan? The police are calling you in the waiting room, I think it's something about the mugging.” The doctor said and Anne nodded as she left the room.

Alec shifted in bed and Magnus took his hand, Alec was full of bruises and cuts through the body.

"I'm Dr. Jordan, you were unconscious when you got here, but I was the one who treated you," the doctor said with a brief smile on her lips. "According to your X-ray, you cracked three ribs, other than that and the dislocated shoulder, had no internal damage. You are a lucky guy."

"See? Nothing much happened. "Alec said banging his elbow lightly on Magnus' belly.

"But it could have happened!" Magnus said crossing his arms and Alec laughed again.

"You should listen to your fiancé, he's right," the doctor said blinking at Magnus.

"How did you notice?" Alec asked, his cheeks flushed.

"The rings," she said, wiggling Alec's chart. "I'm going to ask a resident to come finish the stitches on those injuries, Mr. Lightwood." The doctor said and Alec nodded, she left the room quickly leaving the two alone.

It was strange for Alec to have people knowing about his relationship with Magnus, they had hid it for so long, but now they just leave things be, it was strange, but a good strange.

The only people who knew about Alec and Magnus were his parents and closest friends, which was limited to his parents and two other people.

At first, Alec thought there would be some trouble, for working at a gym doing martial arts classes for children and teenagers, but nothing much happened, which was a relief.

"You know how terrifying it was for me to get out of college and get a message on my cell phone from Anne saying you were in the hospital?" Magnus said as Alec leaned his head on his shoulder.

"Annie always overreacts.” Alec hissed, playing with Magnus' fingers. "It's weird how I fight and everything and I got hurt because of a mugging."

"You're quite stupid, that's all," Magnus said, and Alec snorted.

"And then he says he loves me," Alec said and the resident came to his room.

She was small and red-haired, Magnus found her hair super-fluffy and wanted to squeeze it.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Megan and I'm going to finish stitching up your injuries, Mr. Lightwood." She said entering the room with a kit in her hands.

"Call me Alec, I'm not that old," Alec said, untiing the hospital gown with his free hand and looking at the doctor.

"Okay, Alec," the doctor said, pulling the chair in the corner of the room and arranging her supplies.

"Magnus, I can tell our future children that I was a survivor of armed robbery." Alec said looking at Magnus, who stared at him with narrowed eyes.

"You got it all wrong, it's going to make them think it's okay to react to an assault."

"Magnus, you spoil all my fun," Alec said and the doctor giggled. "If I had my two good arms I would be crossing them right now."

"Okay, I'll pretend I'm looking at you with my arms crossed," Magnus said and Alec muttered something.

Lightwood felt a stab in his head, and his sight blurred. Alec shook hands with Magnus, who tensed.

"Doctor, I think he's not fine." Magnus said, staring at Alec.

Dr. Megan cut the last knot in one of Alec's cuts and squeezed something on her pager.

"I called Neurology, it might be a concussion or something," the doctor said looking Alec's eyes. "Does your head hurt?" She asked looking at the door quickly.

"A little," Alec said with his eyes closed. "Okay, that's a lot."

Anne appeared in the room with an odd expression. She looked from Alec to Magnus and from Magnus to the doctor.

"What happened?" Anne asked, startled, and Magnus looked at her.

"I don’t know, something about his head." Magnus answered and a doctor rushed into the room.

"I'm Dr. Paul Yang, head of Neurology, what do we have here?" He asked the doctor.

"Alexander Lightwood, 26, fell down a staircase, we did general examinations, but apparently we missed something," the doctor said quickly.

"Okay, sir, we're going to need you to move away." The doctor said and Magnus let go of Alec's hand, went to Anne's side.

Dr. Yang lowered Alec's bed and studied his eyes again.

"Yeah, you missed something on the neurological part of the patient, he's having a seizure. We need to get him to take a CT, now!" The Doctor said and Magnus was startled, he shoved Alec's stretcher out of the room with the help of a nurse.

"Sir...?" The resident who had lagged behind headed for Magnus.

"Magnus, Magnus Bane," Magnus replied still looking at Alec being taken by the doctors.

"Mr. Bane, Dr. Yang took your fiancé to get a brain scan to see if there was any damage to his brain, you can stay in the waiting room while we take the exam. Whatever happens, wait for them and talk.” She said, Magnus nodded and the girl ran after the Doctor.

Magnus closed his eyes for a moment and Anne put her arm around his shoulders as they walked into the waiting room.

"I'm going to kill Alec." Magnus said sitting on one of the benches.

Anne sat beside him, leaning her back on the bench and crossing her legs, she ran her hand over Magnus' back, trying to comfort him.

"Don’t say that, Magnus, he was just trying to help. Alec is like that. Acts without thinking about the consequences.” Anne said looking at the doctors and nurses moving around the hospital.

"I know, Annie, just... He's suffered so much in life, you know? He lost his parents and siblings when he was just a child, if it wasn’t for your parents adopting him he would probably have ended up in a horrible place. I can’t stop thinking about it every time something bad happens to him, I try so hard to make him happy." Magnus said running his hand over his face. "And then he goes trying to be Superman, Captain America, Spiderman or whatever, and ends up all hurt."

"I know, Magnus, and I'm sure he's grateful for all of this, but he has that sense of protection. He wants to be everyone's hero. "

"He's already my hero without having to do any of this." Magnus said looking at Anne who smiled.

"You don’t want to break up with my brother and date me? I need a Magnus in my life.” Anne said moving her blond hair and Magnus laughed softly.

"Can I make a clone of me? Like Orphan Black? "Magnus asked and Anne frowned.

"I don’t know, I’d like that." Anne shrugged.

They were silent, just watching and paying attention to every doctor, nurse, and patient who appeared in that room. It was agonizing to stay there without news.

Dr. Megan appeared in the room after long minutes of waiting and Magnus and Anne rose from the chairs quickly.

"Well, the result of the CT scan was better than expected and Alec is already back in the room." The doctor said and Magnus relaxed.

"Can we see him?" Anne asked and Magnus nodded, as if asking the same question for the doctor.

"Of course you can. He's sleeping because of the medications, but of course. Follow me." Dr. Megan said walking to Alec's room, and Magnus and Anne followed.

Alec's expression was more relaxed and calm, his wounds were all stitched and bandaged. The doctor touched a screen in the room and called Anne and Magnus.

"Here is Alec's CT scan, indicated a slight swelling in his brain and a concussion, nothing that needs surgery. The cause of this is a big impact on the head, as you said he fell down a staircase, we were expecting a much bigger bump, which is good. It will go away on its own, and with the medicine he'll feel better shortly, so Dr. Yang decided we should watch him tonight." The doctor said calmly as she looked at Anne and Magnus.

"So, will he be okay?" Magnus asked looking at Alec.

"It's what we expect, but everything indicates that it does. I'll finish filing his hospitalization, excuse me." she said as she left the room.

Anne took a deep breath of relief walking up to Alec's bed, and she and Magnus watched him for a few minutes.

"I'll call my parents, tell them he's okay. Mom was worried when I told her about what happened, I'm going to get something in the cafeteria, do you want anything? " Anne asked, moving the bag.

"No thanks, Anne." The girl nodded and left the room with her cell phone in her ear.

Magnus took a deep breath and sat down in the chair beside Alec's bed and took hold of his hand.

"Never do this to me again, Alec," Magnus said softly, kissing Alec's bruised hand. "You scared me a lot."

Magnus remembered the day they'd met. It was the spring of last year, he remembered that because it was the season of flowers, the store was crowded and his parents needed him that day at the store.

Alec was totally lost in the store looking for a bouquet to give as a wedding anniversary gift to his adoptive parents, Magnus was so distracted that day that he almost fell over Alec, who found the situation totally funny and asked Magnus for help to choose the flower bouquet.

Magnus chose a bouquet of one of his favorite types of flowers, sold it to Alec and passed his number to the boy, as he had found him totally attractive. He figured Alec was not going to call him for several reasons.

Three days later his cell phone rang during a break from college, it was an unknown number and Magnus did not think it was the blue-eyed boy who had caught his attention at the flower shop, but to his surprise it was Alec.

Alexander called him and after a couple of dates the two were dating. Alec had not told his parents about him yet, so they had to take it slow. Magnus was surprised when Alec told him that he had told his parents and that they had been eager to meet him.

Magnus remembered how anxious and nervous he had been that day, he had never met anyone's parents who had just come out of the closet. Especially since his old relationships had been with both men and women, but none had been as intense and true as what he had with Alec.

"I love you, Alec, you know that, right?" Magnus said stroking Alec's hair.

Anne returned quietly to the room and stood on the other side of the bed. He put his cell phone in his bag and continued to drink his coffee.

"I told my parents about Alec, they're coming tomorrow morning, they look like they have a few meetings for today." Anne said and Magnus nodded.

"All right, I'm sure Alec would understand," Magnus muttered, still looking at Alec.


	14. Anemone

**_Anemone_ **

_Abandonment, persistence, perseverance, sadness, solace._

 

Clary held a stele in her trembling hand and drew an iratze on Jace's arm. Mark had carried him into the bedroom.

"You... You'll be fine, I know you will." Clary said as she finished the drawing.

The girl ran her hands through Jace's blond hair that was sprawled across the pillow, his lips compressed, Clary thought he was in pain.

"Clarissa?" Clary heard his name and turned to look who was calling.

"Hi, Nat," Clary said and the warlock entered the room.

"Can I...?" Natalie asked, approaching the redhead and Jace.

"Sure," Clary said rising from the bed and wiping the tears from her face.

The warlock approached Jace and laid her hands on the nephilim's body, Jace writhed on the bed as Natalie murmured the spell.

"That should help him and he should wake up soon," Natalie muttered, running her hands through her hair. "It won’t end his pain, because parabatai is a strong bond, I don’t even know what he's going to feel, but it should give him at least some relief."

Clary nodded biting her cheek, she hated to see Jace in that state and Alec was not there to comfort him.

"Thank you, that's enough." She said, forcing a smile.

Natalie took two big steps to the door and looked both ways down the hall, entered the room again and leaned against the door. She moved her fingers and a paper and pen appeared in her hand.

"I shouldn’t be doing this." Nat said writing something on the paper and handing it to Clary.

"What is this?" Clary asked looking at the confused paper.

"The Clave left me in charge of providing Alec's life out of the shadow world. This where he lives. I knew you would want to know how he is. Especially Jace and his siblings," Natalie said and Clary's eyes widened. "I'd recommend waiting at least a week for you guys to come and see him, but who am I to say anything?"

Clary opened her mouth in surprise and hugged the warlock after putting the paper in her pocket.

"Thank you... Thank you so much," Clary said with her eyes closed as she hugged the warlock.

"It was nothing, it was the least I could do." Natalie said returning the hug.

Seconds later the two of them embraced, the warlock had a smile of solidarity on her lips.

"Now I have to go," Natalie said opening the door.

"Oh ok. Thank you so much again, Nat. "Clary said and Natalie nodded as she walked out the door.

The Institute was totally quiet, which was odd. The weight of what had just happened fell on Natalie's shoulders, she felt guilty for having participated in it, but she was the only warlock in New York, and if she didn’t heed the Clave's request she would be punished too. Sometimes she wished she had not been born in the midst of the shadow world.

It was kind of frustrating, she'd been living for almost four centuries, and she still felt emotional when she got involved in nephilim affairs.

She found Isabelle sitting on the floor in the corner of the room. She was the only person there, outside Mark was staring at the blank wall.

"How... how's Jace doing?" Isabelle said rising suddenly as Natalie entered the room.

"He... Look, I'm not going to lie to you. He's bad." Her accent came out stronger than usual. "The parabatai bond is something very strong and what happened with Alec affected Jace a lot, not only physically, but also psychologically. I have managed to make a spell that will ease his condition, but it is impossible to know what will happen from now on."

Isabelle sighed and Mark looked at both of them, expressionless still. Natalie realized that her eyes were red and swollen. Izzy bit her lip and put her hand on her chest.

"You have my number here at the Institute, if anything happens to Jace just call me, I'm staying here in New York for a while." Natalie said and Izzy thanked her.

Natalie left the Institute with the desire to want to be able to change the laws of the Clave and to make nothing like that happen again.

Isabelle walked anxiously around the room for several minutes, she did not know very well what she wanted to do or what she was feeling. Her heart and mind wanted to cry, but her lungs said she had no more strength for it.

She was saddened by Jace, devastated by Alec, but Max had locked himself in the room since Alec was taken from the Institute and even Livvy couldn’t get him out of there. Izzy walked to where Mark was and sat next to him on the sofa, looked where Mark was staring and realized that there was a picture of the day they had gone to the beach.

 

 _That photo wasn’t there before_ , Isabelle thought as she looked at Alec's arms around her shoulders and her smile on the photo. _Maybe Mark put it here, or Clary. It could have been Jace, too._

 

"We were so happy that day," Mark said without looking away from the photo.

"Yeah, we were," Izzy muttered, leaning back on the couch. "Julian had just found out about Kit and Ty, he'd been staring at them both in such a weird way."

"True, but it was kind of obvious they both liked each other. Ty gave up on going to Schlomance after meeting Kit, and Herondale just didn’t go crazy in the Institute because of my brother. Julian is kind of blind up and doesn’t notice things," Mark said with a shrug.

"I remember how Emma practically yelled at Julian that she was in love with him," Izzy said and Mark laughed.

"That day was funny. Julian was such a fool, he didn’t think Emma wanted anything to do with him.” Mark said looking at Izzy. "He kept whimpering around corners by her and talking to me and Helen about Emma, it was totally annoying."

Izzy lost the smile that was on her face. She had heard what Helen had said on the beach day.

"Helen," Izzy said, and Mark frowned, a little confused. "We should have listened to Helen when she was talking about what it could do."

Mark knew about what Isabelle was talking about, when Helen returned to Los Angeles, Alec, his mundane boyfriend, and what could happen were the only things Helen was talking about, until Aline started to say she was thinking about having a child.

"She was right, you know? Alec should have talked about this with Magnus before, maybe it would not have ended like that." Mark said and Isabelle was silent.

Izzy crossed her legs and looked to the photo attached to the wall again. Izzy did not want to think about how her brother didn’t remember her, much less that he wouldn’t be there, never again, it was as if they had ripped off a piece of her being, it was just too painful.

"I... I can’t stay here," Izzy said getting off the couch quickly and hurrying out of the room.

Mark was startled and went after her. He followed her to the outside of the Institute, where she began to walk normally.

"Izzy! Where are you going? "Mark asked walking behind her.

"To some place where I can forget that my big brother will never come back and it feels like something died inside of me." Isabelle screamed from the street and Mark stopped pacing.

"What do I tell your boyfriend if he asks where you went?" Mark asked loudly so that Isabelle could hear.

The brunette stopped walking and turned to Mark, her eyes were closed and her hands tightened.

"I don’t know, tell Simon I had to go, or whatever. Make something up." Isabelle said and walked away again.

Mark took a deep breath, felt the sun against his skin for a few seconds and returned to the Institute.

It hadn’t been so long since Alec had left, only a few hours, but it was already quite strange being in the place where he used to live. Mark thought that it made Alec look like he had died.

Blackthorn even considered what was worse. Alec dying, or knowing that he was alive, just didn’t remember about them or about his past life.

Mark walked around the Institute silently and found Simon in the kitchen, trying to mix something in the blender, Lewis just stared at Mark, who continued down the hall.

Clary was hugging Jace's sleeping body, she was still crying. Mark didn’t understand where she got so much water from her body for that.

Livvy was sitting outside Max's room, Kit and Ty were in front of her, probably keeping her company, the girl was drawing something on a white sheet, as he passed by he saw that it was Alec, with angel wings. Mark thought it was a beautiful picture.

In the fifth room down the hall, Helen had her hand on her four-month-pregnant belly, Aline was saying something low to her.

"Are you okay?" Mark asked without entering the room. His sister lifted her eyes to him.

"Yes, I am. It was that them decided to take the day off to get agitated." Helen said and Mark nodded.

"Our mom used to sing a slow song to calm the babies when she was pregnant with Ty and Livvy, it might work for you."

"Yeah, it was _Hey Jude_ from the Beatles," Helen said and Aline smiled, beginning to mumble the song.

 _“Hey, Jude, don't make it bad, take a sad song and make it better. Remember to let her into your heart, then you can start to make it better.”_ Helen smiled as she heard Aline sing.

"Do you guys already know the baby's sex?" Mark asked, listening to the familiar song.

"No, but she insists on calling the baby _he_." Aline said and Helen rolled her eyes. "Even when I think she's a little girl."

"But, we're going to love either her or him," Helen said, and Aline nodded.

Mark left the room, leaving both calming the baby, leaned against the door so nothing stirred him again.

"Mark!" He heard Kit's voice call him.

"What is it?" Mark asked as Kit reached her side.

"It's the Inquisitor, he wanted to talk to one of the Directors, but Jace is still off and Clary ended up sleeping next to him." Mark realized he had a phone in his hand. "And... I said you were here."

Mark took the phone from Kit's hand, who watched him.

"I think it has something to do with punishment," Kit said, and Mark sighed, answering the phone.

 _"Yes?"_ Mark said into the phone.

_"Mark, has Alec left already?"_

_"It's been a while, actually."_

Mark noticed Robert sigh on the other end of the line.

 _"I have to talk to you about the punishment..."_ Mark interrupted him.

 _“Jace is almost dead, no one knows where Isabelle is, Helen is pregnant, by the Angel. Not now, okay?"_ Mark said and ended the call. He handed the phone to Kit and walked again.

The blonde started counting his steps, did not have much to do, did not have much to think about. He tried not to think about Alec and his agonizing cries, but it was the only thing that went through his mind.

Thirty-seven steps later, Mark stopped in front of Alec's old room. Mark felt his heart racing, his mind telling him not to do it, but he was not very rational at the moment.

His hand went to the door handle and opened it, the room was completely empty except for the bed leaning against the wall. The Clave had sent agents to empty Alec's room before he even came back from Idris, it was sickly to think about.

He entered the room and closed the door behind him, pulled the curtains from the window and found a yellow flower, almost dead. Alec had spoken of this flower to Mark, it was the flower that Magnus had given him the day they met.

Mark took the flower and closed the curtains again. The room went dark. The day outside was warm, sunny, and hot, but the room was chilled, pale and deadly. Mark placed the flower against his body and leaned against the wall, dragging his body to the floor.

What was left of the flower eventually cracked against Mark's body, which still felt Alec's presence in that room.

 

_***** _

 

"Come on, Alec, one foot at a time." Magnus said helping Alec walk to the couch and Alec cast a dirty look at the man.

"If I could, I'd run out right now." Alec said earnestly and Magnus rolled his eyes.

"You just got discharged from the hospital, Alexander, are you ready to go back there?" Magnus said adjusting the cushion for Alec to sit on.

"I'm sure I can walk alone," Alec said angrily and Magnus snorted.

"You've got your ribs cracked, Alec, you can not just walk around by yourself. It's no use being stubborn, okay? If not you're going to end up falling and this time breaking the ribs, which will be worse." Magnus said and Alec sighed, giving up.

Magnus helped Alec sit on the couch, Lightwood moaned in pain and settled on the couch. Magnus sat beside him, leaving the college backpack on the floor.

"This is what ou get for fighting a robbery," Magnus said, tapping Alec's nose with his index finger, which he grunted.

“I want to be the Doctor and use my Tardis to go back in time and stop me from doing that stupidity.”

Alec pulled the cushion onto the arm of the sofa and lay there, his feet on top of Magnus' lap.

"You’re such a nerd sometimes." Magnus said slapping Alec's leg.

"There! It hurts, don’t do that, "Alec said, closing his eyes slowly.

"I'm beginning to think you shouldn’t have been discharged." Magnus muttered, pulling himself up from the couch and into the kitchen.

"I spent three days in that hospital, I'm sure that's enough." Alec said louder so Magnus could understand. "And Anne went to get the painkillers the doctor prescribed for me, and when I take the pills I'll get better."

Magnus fumbled in the closet, looking for some pain medication there, no matter how much it involved Alec, Magnus could not bear to see him in pain.

He found a medicine among several empty containers, took a glass, poured water, and returned to the room.

"Here." He handed the pill to Alec. "As long as Anne does not come back with the painkillers, that should get you a little better."

Alec took the medicine along with the water and Magnus set the glass down on the coffee table. He crouched on the floor in front of the sofa and ran his hand over Alec's face.

"I don’t like to see you in pain," Magnus said, and left a kiss on Alec's lips. "You almost killed me with worry in those three days, Alexander."

"I promise I'll never do that again," Alec said, extending his arm that was good to take in Magnus's hand.

"And I'll make you keep that promise," Magnus murmured and Alec made a mouthful, Magnus smiled and kissed him. "I love you, Alec."

"And I love you, Magnus," Alec said staring into Magnus's eyes.

The two heard the bell ring and Magnus stood up, Alec frowned, accompanying Magnus with his eyes.

"Did Anne lose her keys again? She’s always doing it. "Alec said and Magnus walked to the door.

"Wo knows?” Magnus said opening the door, but there was no one there.

He walked down the hall to the building, but the only people there were an elderly couple down the hall.

"That’s weird..." Magnus said returning into the apartment and closing the door.

"What's weird?" Alec asked as Magnus walked over to him again.

"There was no one at the door." Magnus said as he sat down on the couch and Alec put his legs on Magnus’ lap again.

"It must be those little devils from 12b again." Alec said and Magnus looked at the door again.

"No... they were not out there, I looked," Magnus said and Alec rolled his eyes.

"You're being paranoid, Magnus, they must have run or been hiding." Magnus shrugged and took control of the TV.

"Yeah, that must be it." Magnus said changing the channel frantically, looking for something to watch. "Alec, I have something to tell you."

"What?" Alec said looking at him.

"I didn’t want to talk when you were in the hospital, but now you're home, so..." Alec cut him off.

"You're scaring me, Magnus," Alec said seriously.

"It's not bad at all, Alexander." Magnus said and Alec sighed seductively. "Since I'm already in the last semester of college, I was trying to get a position at a publishing house. Do you remember that?"

"Yes, I remember."

"I got the spot, I'll start as soon as I finish college and they're interested in the drafts I did last year." Magnus said and Alec sat on the couch, facing Magnus.

"That... that’s is incredible, Magnus. I'm so proud of you, "Alec said, hugging his fiancé. "Not so strong, I still have my ribs cracked."

"Oh, sorry," Magnus said as he pulled away from Alec. "That drug’s working?"

"Yes, but I can still feel the part crushed against my skin, and it's very strange," Alec said with a pained expression.

"Present for trying to be Superman." Magnus said putting his feet on the coffee table.

"I didn’t try to be Superman." Magnus looked at him. "Captain America, _maybe_."

 


	15. Sunflower

**_Sunflower_ **

 

_Happiness, warmth, ingratitude, vitality, enthusiasm, haughtiness, balance, comfort, luck._

Alec took the bowl of popcorn from Anne's hands, and she punched his shoulder.

"Ouch, Anne," Alec said, reaching for a handful of popcorn.

"I didn’t take time off from my work for you to steal my popcorn." Anne said taking the container back and looking at the movie on TV. "This movie is sad."

"But it's a comedy!" Alec said looking at Anne with a frown.

"It's a romantic comedy, and she never remembers the guy she likes and he also likes her. It's horrible.” Anne said filling her mouth with popcorn.

"Look at it from the other side, so every day she can fall in love with him again. It would be sad if she didn’t remember the family, they would never get over it because she wasn't born that way" Anne looked at Alec and shrugged.

"Why are you always right?" Anne asked and Alec smiled.

"Because I'm amazing." Alec said taking popcorn from Anne's bowl and she tapped his hand.

"It'll do for you, Alexander." Alec spat.

"Yours is better and I'm still aching.” Alec said, leaning his head against the arm of the sofa.

"It's been over a week since you left the hospital."

"And I'm still overwhelmed."

"I have no answer for that one." Anne said turning off the television because the movie was over.

He set his feet on the coffee table and took a deep breath, looking at Alec.

"What do we do now?" The blonde asked and Alec raised an eyebrow.

"I don’t know," Alec said, looking at the television screen off.

"What have you been doing for these two weeks?"

"I slept all day and watched television, some movies as well," Alec replied as Anne lay with her head resting on her stool. "Anne ..."

"What?" Anne asked looking at Alec.

"I was talking to Magnus about our marriage one of these days and start thinking about having our own apartment, or even a house. Even because it would not be nice for you to have two married guys living with you and when the children come and... "

"Wait, you guys think about having kids?"

"Of course I do." Alec frowned. "Why shouldn’t we?"

Anne shrugged and bit her lip.

"I don’t know, you don't look like the kind of person who likes children. Never looked that way."

"But I do, Annie. You’re the one who’s off. "

"Yeah, just a little. But anyway, that's fine. I understand you two moving, after all, it's a wedding. I was impressed that you have not talked about this before. And I'm going to be okay, it’s not like you’re moving to another country or are you moving to another country?"

"No! Calm down, we haven’t even started looking. "

"You should, you know? In fact, mom and dad are coming to dinner tonight. Are you going to tell them about the engagement? "

"I don’t know, they're going to want to spend millions on the ceremony, especially Mom."

"And when are you going to talk? Missing two days for the wedding? "

"That was my plan." Anne tapped his arm.

"Alec! I know you hate it when mom gets into your things, but she only does it because she loves you and she loves Magnus, I'm sure she'll let you spend as much as you want. "

"Okay, you win. I will talk to our parents tonight, but I need to talk to Magnus first." Anne smiled and Alec thought it was strange.

"I already talked to him and he agreed."

"I think you're the third person in this relationship, Anne."

Talking to Anne reminded him of the day Alec was adopted by the Callahans and went to their house. It was a very strange day, for which Alec remembered.

Alec was eleven years old, had spent more than six months in the orphanage and was already thinking that he would never be adopted, or at least that was what the older children of the orphanage wanted him to believe.

They always said that when they are five years old, they stay there until they are eighteen, after that they are released and thrown into the world, most of them get stuck and the other gets around. Alec had arrived there already more than five years old.

Little Alec felt that those boys didn’t like him, though he didn’t know why. Alec thought it was because he was different from most children.

A week before his twelfth birthday, a social worker who worked at the orphanage where Alec was living called him in his office and said he had a couple interested in him, they already had a daughter who was the same age as him and wanted another son, but did not have the time to give to a newborn baby, so they decided to adopt.

Three days after that, Alec was moving to the Callahan house, his new parents decided to keep the boy's roots and left him with his birth name, Lightwood.

Alec was impressed by the size of the Callahan's house, much larger than his old house. His new parents began to give him everything. He felt intimidated and frightened by all that, it was all very new and strange, but Anne helped him and made him able to get used to that whole new world.

She was the first person Alec became attached to and the first friendship he'd made after a long time, Anne was also the first person Alec ever told he was gay.

"What are you thinking about?" Anne asked, sitting down on the couch with her legs crossed Indian style.

"The day we met," Alec said, averting his eyes from the wall, which he did not even know was staring at Anne. "And how scared I was."

"I thought you were super-cute. I had told my parents that I wanted a baby, but you happened." Anne said and Alec laughed.

"I almost didn’t believe it when your parents took me out of that orphanage, I really thought I would stay there until I was eighteen." Alec said and sighed.

"Oh, that would be sad," Anne said taking her brother's hand. "You've changed my life, you know? I had always been alone and.... When you arrived I got not only company, but a brother. "

"I love you, Anne, you know that right?" Alec said hugging Anne and she smiled.

"Yeah, I know, and I love you too, Alec," she said and walked away from him seconds later.

"You're going to cook, right? How about I go shopping for things at the market? "Alec asked, standing up from the couch.

"Are you okay to go out on your own?" Anne asked looking at him.

"Yes, Annie, I'm fine, okay? I'm still not 100%, but I'm sure I can go to the grocery store alone." Alec said and Annie nodded, picked up a notebook and pen that was on the coffee table and jotted down some things.

 

"Here’s the things I need.” she said, handing the paper over to Alec. "If anything happens to you. If you feel a pang anywhere you call me and I'll pick you up in the same second, okay? "

"Right, Annie," Alec said, picking up his wallet that was lying on the nightstand. "I'm on my way."

He left a kiss on Anne's head as she watched him walk out the door with one of the apartment keys. Alec went to the elevator and pressed the button. A blond guy, who seemed to be his age, came to his side and Alec was a little uncomfortable, because he did not stop staring at him.

"Hey, you're Alec from 12D, right? Who had an accident? "He asked and Alec looked at him."Are you alright?"

"Yeah, that’s me," Alec said, looking confused. "And I'm fine now, thanks for asking."

"It was nothing, dude, I'm new to the building. How awful of me not to introduce myself, my name is Mark, I moved this week to 12H. "

"Ah, welcome, Mark," Alec said and the elevator arrived, opened the doors, and the two entered. "Are you enjoying the building?"

"Yes I am, it is very quiet. At first my boyfriend didn’t want to move here, because, you know, not everyone deals well with a gay couple living in the same condominium as their children and grandchildren, but later he accepted really well. "

"Oh, that's good," Alec said and Mark smiled.

"Is that you? How long have you been here? "

"Four years, I guess," Alec said and the elevator opened on the ground floor. "It was good to meet you, Mark, and again, welcome to the building."

Mark nodded and the two got out of the elevator, Alec headed out of the building and Mark went somewhere Alec had not seen.

The market was four blocks from where he was. It was not far, but it was good to finally get out of that apartment.

Alec picked up his headphones and plugged in his cell phone, gave random play and some music started playing, it was still summer so he had lots of kids playing in the street and adults washing their cars.

In the third song that played on his cell phone, Alec was so distracted that he ended up bumping into a redheaded girl. He quickly removed the earphones and turned to face her.

"Oh, my God. A thousand apologies, I was distracted," Alec said clutching his headphones awkwardly.

"No... it was nothing, don’t worry." The redhead said and swallowed dry, Alec thought there was something odd about her but said nothing.

"I'm sorry again." Alec said and replaced the headphones again, the redhead, stared, smiled and kept walking.

Lightwood shrugged and kept walking to the grocery store, bought everything Anne had ordered, and returned to the apartment. He dropped everything on the table and sat exhausted on the couch.

He found the medicine for pain and took it, because his rib that had been cracked began to ache again. Anne appeared in the living room with her arms folded and with an angry expression.

"I knew I shouldn’t have let you out like that, Alec," she said, glaring at him.

"I'm going to take a hot shower and I'll be fine, okay? You don't need to blame yourself. "Alec said putting the glass down on the coffee table and rising again.

"Okay, but anything, yell." Anne said and Alec nodded to the bathroom.

Magnus arrived from the flower shop when it was just after six o'clock, Alec asked if it was all right for them to tell their adoptive parents about the wedding, and he nodded.

The Callahans arrived right at dinner time, which had been made by Anne, who thanks to the cooking course she had done in high school was great in the kitchen.

"I hope you're feeling better, Alec," Amelia Callahan said, arranging the cutlery for food.

"Yes, mom, I _am_. These two have not let me do anything for the past two weeks. "Alec said looking at Magnus and Anne, who exchanged a complicit look.

"But they're right. Your mom and I even thought of hiring a maid to help them with the apartment, since they both work and have college and you'd be home alone." Ryan Callahan said looking Alec.

"Glad you didn’t do that, dad, it would be weird. Don’t you think? "Anne asked frowning.

"No, no care is too much. Especially when one thinks it's _The Flash_ , which has the bruises healed faster than normal." Ryan said and Magnus laughed.

"I think this is the twelfth hero that people compare me to in less than a month," Alec said, biting the noodles.

"Don’t exaggerate, Alec, this must be the fifth." Anne said and Alec rolled his eyes.

At dessert time, Alec said he needed to talk to everyone. Anne smiled because she knew what he was going to do.

"Anna already knows, so... you're both missing," Alec said taking Magnus's hand on the table.

"What did you two do this time?" Amelia asked, folding her arms.

"Mom! It's not bad at all. "

She uncrossed her arms and looked at her son and his boyfriend, Anne looked anxiously at her parents.

"I was going to talk before, before what happened, but I ended up letting it go because it was not okay. But Magnus asked me to marry him and I said yes." Alec said looking passionately at Magnus.

Amelia's eyes widened, and Ryan put his hand on his wife's arm.

"My God, I do not believe it, I'm so happy for you both," Amelia said rising from her chair and going to hug them both. "I always knew he was the one for you, son."

"Thank you, mom," Alec said with red cheeks.

"Congratulations, both of you, you deserve it," Ryan said with a smile.

"So how's planning already? Have you already chosen the place? It could be in our house in the Hamptons, the yard is big enough to fit all the guests, or it could be on the beach! Imagine, what a beautiful beach wedding?" Ryan cleared his throat, interrupting his wife.

"Amy, sweetie. Let the boys decide on their own wedding? Please? I'm sure they want something like them. "Ryan said and Amelia snorted.

"Thanks Dad. Mom, he's right, "Alec said.

Later, after Amelia and Ryan left, Anne went to her room and Magnus and Alec settled into bed, the two began to talk about their marriage.

"I wanted to get married in the summer, or in the spring," Magnus said looking at Alec as he lay facing him.

"So, are we going to wait until next year? Because the summer is over next month," Alec said and Magnus drew the wires that fell over his eyes.

"Why don’t we get married next month?" Magnus said and Alec was startled.

"Like this? So fast?"

"Unless you don’t want to, of course." Magnus said looking Alec in his eyes, staring.

"But of course I do, Magnus," Alec said and smiled. "Let's get married next month."

"And I think your mother is right. Getting married on the beach would be lovely, but I think it would fill up with sand, which would not be nice. "Magnus said, frowning.

"We could do it at the Hamptons, you've been there once. It's huge," Alec said, wrapping his fingers around Magnus'. "And since we want to make it official next month, we're going to need help."

"Besides your mother and Anne, who obviously would help without us asking?" Magnus asked and Alec thought for a few seconds.

"Maybe an expert. Didn't you say you had an aunt who specialized in these kinds of ceremonies? We could hire her," Alec said and Magnus kissed him.

"Yes, whatever you want," Magnus muttered between the kiss and Alec brought his hand up to Magnus' shoulder. "Just because you're there, I know it's going to be perfect."


	16. Anise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact: i change a few things between the portuguese version and this one and keep prefering this one than the original lmao
> 
>  
> 
> and here's malec's wedding

**_Anise_ **

_Promise of eternal love, request for marriage, sincerity, warmth,_

_allows one to surrender without fear and without expecting anything in return._

 

Alec heard knocking on the door of his room, muttered that whoever it was, could come in. He set his notebook aside and looked at the door, saw it was Magnus.

Magnus entered the room and shut the door behind him, walked over to Alec's bed and lay down beside him.

"I don’t like being separated from you," Magnus said, biting his lip. "So I ran away from everybody and came here."

Alec smiled and kissed Magnus slowly, interlaced his fingers on her fiancé and parted his lips.

"I don’t want to spend another second away from you, Alexander," Magnus said looking directly into Alec's eyes.

"Magnus... I love you, you know that, right?" Alec said and Magnus nodded, smiling and leaving his forehead against Alec's.

"It's tomorrow. Are you nervous? "Magnus muttered and Alec closed his eyes.

"I'm freaking out." Magnus laughed softly. "It's like I've been totally relaxed before and the whole nervousness has come now."

"Do not worry, Alec, it'll all work out," Magnus said softly, and Alec nodded in agreement. "I'll be there at the altar with you, our families will be there."

"I believe you," Alec muttered and Magnus smiled. "Stay here with me?"

"No need to ask."

Alec turned off the lamp, straightened on the bed, and Magnus put his arm around his waist. The two slept with their arms around each other.

 

*

 

Alec paced the house watching everyone settle in for the wedding that was to happen late in the afternoon, her sister and Magnus' aunt Mary were coordinating everything there and they ended up leaving the grooms free.

"So, what do you think?" Amber, Magnus' sister said coming to his side.

"I'm loving it!" Alec said, smiling.

"Have you written your vows?" She asked and Alec raised an eyebrow.

"Should I have written them?" Alec asked confused.

"I don’t believe it!" Amber said and pulled him into the living room.

She picked up a pen and paper from the desk in the corner and handed it to Alec.

"Okay, sit down there and don’t leave until you've finished writing your vows." Amber said with folded arms.

"But I have to get ready in less than three hours."

"Just shut up and write." Alec snorted and bit his pen.

Lightwood thought that having a seventeen-year-old tell you to shut up was the end of life.

Despite being mixed with nervousness and anxiety, the words flowed fast in his mind and he could express them on paper with ease, the key was to think of everything he felt for Magnus and how he made him happy.

When he finished, Alec smiled, reading what he had written. Amber, who was moving the cell phone on the couch in front of what Alec was in, realized he had finished and stood up.

"Let me read?" She asked looking at the paper, Alec looked at her.

"No. You'll only know at the wedding. "Alec muttered, putting the paper in his pocket.

"Are you going to make me curious?" Amber asked, pretending she was angry.

"I will. And where is my fiancé? " Alec asked, standing up from the couch and looking out the living room window. There were thousands of people there, but nothing of Magnus.

"You can’t see each other before the wedding, it brings bad luck." Amber said, staring at the backyard with Alec.

"I think that is bullshit," Alec said and Amber laughed.

"I think that too, what's the problem? The marriage is yours, but your mother and mine wanted it to be so. "

The sun was beating directly at the window where Amber and Alec were standing, so the two of them were half-blind as they watched all those people working to organize the place for the wedding.

"Alec? Can I ask you something?" Amber said looking at Alec out of the corner of her eyes.

"But of course. What's it?"

"It may seem strange, but what made you say yes to my brother? What made you think he was the person you want him to spend the rest of his life with? "Amber asked biting her lip slightly.

"It's an interesting question," Alec said with a faint smile on his lips. "The biggest reason is that I love him. I do not think there's anything wrong with that, you know? It was all very fast, I looked at him one day and imagined a lifetime with him."

Alec smiled remembering that day, even before Magnus asked him to marry him. They were talking on the campus of Magnus' college with Catarina, and Alec was lost in the brown of Magnus' eyes. The brunette realized that he was being watched by his boyfriend and ended up blushing, Catherine found the scene lovely.

"There was something about his eyes and the way he spoke that made me fall in love with him more and more. We had about eight months of dating, and I felt that what I had with him was different from all the other relationships I've ever had in life. There were not many, but it was completely different. "

Amber was fascinated by Alec's smile as he talked about Magnus, it was so beautiful and pure to see. It made her want to have something like that too.

"I even thought I was being an idiot, Alec, you're an idiot, you're only 25 years old, there's no way you can know anything about the future. That's what I thought when I got home at night, but the next day I met him at the florist shop again and I saw him smiling while attending a client, while talking about those flowers he loves so much and he saw me there, standing watching him. He had a sparkle in his eyes that was beautiful to see and ... I just knew I did not want to spend any more minutes away from him. "Alec said with a huge smile on his lips.

"You never told me that." Alec heard Magnus' voice in the room, turned and saw him propped against the wall by the door. "That's beautiful, Alec."

"Magnus Bane! What part of you can _not_ see each other before the wedding, don’t you understand? "Amber said, tapping her foot on the floor and taking her brother's arm. "I'll tell Mom this, okay? And you're going to have to put up with two hours of sermon for seeing him today! "

Alec laughed listening to Amber's voice fighting with Magnus in the hallway and wiping his eyes with his fingertips, thinking that made them burst into tears.

He glanced at the clock on top of one of the walls of the room, and it was three twenty-five, he had only a little time to memorize all those words and get dressed, he thought he really should have written his vows before.

He looked again at all the arrangements that were in the yard, the guests who were already arriving and left the room, went up quickly to his room. He left the vows on the nightstand and looked at his tuxedo on the bed, Alec felt his stomach flutter, his marriage would actually  happen.

With the towel in hand, Alec opened the door to the bathroom of his room and went in naked. There, he had all kinds of soap and shampoo he could ask for, Alec thought it was way too much.

 After a long, closed-eye sigh, Lightwood put the towel hanging from a toilet hook and into the shower stall, turned on the shower at the warm temperature, and let the water fall on his shoulders, relaxing them.

Alec didn’t linger long in the bathroom, and about half an hour later he was already dressed and trying to memorize the words he had written in his vows.

He heard his cell ring, thought it strange, picked it up and saw that it was an unknown number.

"Alec! Thank God you answered."

"Magnus, what are you doing?"

"I wanted to talk to you, I could not handle this anxiety all by myself. Amber and Anne hid my cell phone because they knew I was going to call you, so I stole my mother's."

Alec laughed at that as if it were the funniest thing in the world, he thought his nerves were nervous about what was about to happen.

"I'm going to marry a thief."

"Alexander, I'll give it back later, okay?"

"I know, love, but it's okay to get cold feet."

"I think you love me too much sometimes."

"Magnus..." Alec muttered and moistened his lips. "I love you so much that you do not even know how much. Everything I said earlier was true. If you had not asked me to marry you, I would have made the request."

"You never cease to amaze me, Alec."

Alec closed his eyes and smiled, sat down on the floor with his back propped up, in one hand he had the paper with his vows and the other held his cell phone close to his ear.

"That's weird." Alec muttered after a few seconds. "We're literally in rooms next to each other and talking on cell phones."

"I think it's better than nothing, but it's weird, it is. And my mom just came in here and saw me on her cell phone."

"Good luck with that." Alec said and heard Magnus mutter a thank-you and the call ended.

He turned off the cell phone and laid it on the bed, lifted himself off the floor and wiped away the dust that had remained on his pants. He recited his vows in his head and heard knocks on the door.

"Come in," Alec said, still looking at the paper in his hands.

The door opened and Amelia entered the room, closing the door behind her. She walked to the son standing in the middle of the room and straightened the collar of his tuxedo, which was all crooked. Amelia's hair was pinned to the top of her head in a majestic bun; she already had some white hairs in her hair, but nothing that would disrupt her beauty.

"It's almost time." The woman said smiling as her son stared at her. "My baby’s getting married."

"Mom!" Alec said and Amelia laughed.

"You'll always be my baby," she said, squeezing Alec's cheeks. "When you and Anne were younger, I always thought she was going to be the first to marry. I think I was wrong. "

"These things happen," Alec said sitting next to his mother in his bed.

 

*

 

Jace stood in front of the mirror, tidying up his tie. Clary watched him quietly through the mirror, he had already taken out and put on more than four ties.

"Are you sure you want to go?" Clary asked clutching her blue dress lightly.

"I have to, Clary, it was difficult for you to get this invitation and I promised Alec that even if he were wearing his underwear, I would be there." Jace said looking at Clary.

"Oh, it was not difficult. I just needed to call Natalie and ask her to make an addition to her spell so Alec would think I'm a co-worker, close enough for him to give me one of the invitations. "Clary said getting up from the couch and going to Jace. "The blue, it matches more with you and with my dress."

The blonde nodded, taking the blue tie and putting it on. This would be the first time Jace had seen Alec since the two had stopped being parabatai. He still had not had the guts to go see Alec, although he looked every day for the paper with his address that Natalie, who was now Alta Witch from Brooklyn, had delivered it to Clary.

Thinking about it made what was left of the rune parabatai in his abdomen ache. Jace tried to avoid thinking about Alec, but never could. Every time he looked at that mark on his body, it felt like his soul was being stabbed.

 

"Even so, I have to go. He's... He was my brother and my parabatai." Jace said seriously, finishing tying his tie. "Isabelle is still bad with all this and Max is in Idris not talking to anyone, it's just me ... And I have to do it, no matter how much it hurts."

"I understand," Clary murmured, taking Jace's arm affectionately, feeling her cell vibrate. She took it out of her bag and saw that it was a message from Mark. "Mark just sent me a message, he's there with Kieran."

Jace sighed and grabbed his suit jacket, set it on and looked back at his reflection in the mirror.

"Come on." Jace said and Clary nodded, the two of them left the house and found Mark and Kieran.

"Helen and Aline are already there with Kit and Ty, they insisted on going, I tried to convince Helen not to go because of Ivy, but she didn’t listen to me." Mark said as they entered the car.

"Ivy? It’s a girl? "Clary asked as Mark started the room.

"She didn’t tell you? I thought she had told you, Aline and she found out last week. It's a little girl, Ivy Blackthorn," Mark said with a smile. "Aline celebrated for more than two days."

Jace forced a smile, it was good news, but the only thing he could think of was Alec, how his parabatai would see him and would not have the slightest idea who he was and it hurt. Alec was the only person he had trusted after the death of his parents. Alec was his best friend, his confidant.

"Are you okay?" Clary asked softly to Jace, realizing that he was wasn’t.

"I'll stay," Jace said, looking out the window of the car, at the waves breaking in the sand on the beach, and those forming in the immensity that was all that ocean.

The sun was nearing the summit of the sea, forming a beautiful image in the sky and in the water.

"Do you think there's any chance of him even recognizing us?" Jace asked, averting his eyes at Clary.

"Sincerely? I don’t know, Jace. The spell was very strong and intense." Clary interlaced her fingers into Jace's. "It's hard to know what might happen, especially since you were parabatai. You two had a unique bond, which you did not share with anyone else. "

Clary paused as she watched Jace looking out to sea again, he seemed lost in his own mind.

"But anything can happen," Clary said, and Jace nodded, as if to believe it.

"It's here," Kieran said pointing to a huge house with several people coming and going.

"So let's go." Mark said after he hung up the car, Jace sighed and got out of the car.

His hand was clutched in Clary's, which balanced on the heel. He watched Mark and Kieran walk hand in hand in front of him, Seelie's blue hairs were now in a clear tone.

"Jace, are you ready to do this? When I first saw him it was a shock and I was not fighting him, I do not know how it will be for you. "Clary said as they were already approaching the gate.

"I'm sure I can do this," Jace said and Clary agreed, the two of them started walking again and Jace clenched Clary's hand apprehensively. "If you notice something strange about me, anything. Get me out of there right away, okay? "

"You don’t even have to ask twice," Clary said and Jace swallowed.

The redhead took the invitation from the carrying bag and showed it to the receptionist, who nodded in agreement to the two and let them through.

Soon they found the Blackthorn name on a table in the back of the room and went to them.

"That one is his new sister," Mark said pointing to a blond girl in a coral dress talking animatedly to Magnus' sister. "Her name is Anne, she's fun, I've talked to her a few times."

"Imagine how her life was before all this happened. Like, they're not to blame and they just threw him in the middle of the family. "Aline said looking at the girl. "It's kind of sad."

"No one was to blame," Clary said taking Jace's hand, which seemed to be with his mind far away. "It's a horrible situation."

"The Clave will kill us if they find out we're here," Ty murmured as he picked up a salad that was in the middle of the table.

"But who cares?" Kit said, and Ty shrugged.

"Look, we're here for Alec, right?" Helen said and they all looked at her. "Complaining or whining will not help at all. Let alone talk about what you think may or may not happen. It's terrible, but it happened. Is everyone sad about it? Of course, Alec was a part of us. Keeping this in check will not help. He doesn’t remember us and I know that if he remembers he would be happy to be here and we would be happy for him, and that's what we have to do even with this whole situation." Helen finished and everyone was silent.

"You're right," Jace said after a few minutes. "We can be happy for him. Glad to be well, to be with the person he loves and... That's it. "

"Have I told you I love you today?" Aline asked looking at Helen, who stared at her with a frown. "Because I do."

"I don’t think so," Helen said, and Aline kissed her on her lips.

Jace saw Alec in the window of what appeared to be a room, he was talking to a brunette woman, who had the same features as Anne, inferred that it was his adopted mother. The rune of the parabatai they had burned, Jace took his hand to where it was and pressed his fingers against the skin.

"Jace? Are you okay? "Clary asked him, frowning with concern.

"I am fine. Don’t worry, "Jace said looking into his eyes, Clary sighed, giving up knowing about him.

Herondale glanced at the window where he'd seen Alec and he was gone, Jace was disappointed, but in the next few minutes he realized that the wedding was about to begin.

Magnus entered first, arm in arm with his mother and then Alec, with his adopted mother. They both grinned at the judge, that made Jace have some kind of relief.

"Magnus Bane, I promise to be faithful to you, to love and respect you, in joy and sorrow, in health and sickness, every day of our lives." Alec said with his hands given those of Magnus, who repeated the same for Alec.

Helen was thrilled, Aline said that she was already emotional and pregnant made it even worse. Jace watched Kieran lean his head on Mark's shoulder, which interlaced Kieran's fingers.

"Magnus Bane, receive this covenant as a sign of my love and my faithfulness." Alec said putting the ring on the ring finger of Magnus, who had a smile on his lips.

"Alexander Lightwood, receive this covenant as a sign of my love and my faithfulness." Magnus said doing the same with Alec.

After the vows, a blue-haired girl and Alec's adopted sister signed the papers and Jace deduced that they were the witnesses, Magnus and Alec signed shortly thereafter.

The judge declared them husband and husband, Magnus and Alec kissed and the ceremony ended, the judge left discreetly and most of the guests went to congratulate the grooms. Jace wondered whether he'd get up to talk to Alec or just stand there, just watching.


	17. Azalea

**_Azalea_ **

_Joy of loving, love of nature,_

_prolonged love, romance._

 

Alec’s cheeks were already aching from smiling at people, before he thought the worst part of a wedding was planning, now he's pretty sure that's part of the thanks before the party.

He was happy, but of course he was, he had just married the love of his life, but smiling in thankfulness to several people at the same time is extremely difficult.

Lightwood glanced at Magnus who was at his side and he seemed to be dealing with it in a simpler way, it was even kind of strange to see.

Magnus had a more caring and friendly way with people, that's a fact. Alec worked with people, but practically one hundred percent of what he had to do was teach those people to beat each other.

The last in the line were Clary and a blond guy, he had an expression that Alec thought he was two seconds away from vomiting, or it was just nervousness, Alec knew the feeling, but did not know the blonde.

"Magnus, this is Clary. That karate teacher I told you about." Alec said looking at Magnus and then at them. "And you must be her husband, Jace, right? She’s always talking about you. "

"Yes, that’s me." The blond, Jace, said half-heartedly. "Congratulations, man. It was a beautiful wedding. "

This time the smile came naturally and his cheeks did not hurt. Jace hugged Alec and Lightwood felt like he'd known that guy for a long time.

_You deserve to be happy, Alec, you deserve all the love that the mundane with a weird name can give you, and I want to see you happy, you're my parabatai, I would never want anything for you other than happiness._

 

"Alec? Are you okay?" Magnus asked, gripping Alec's shoulder. He looked worried.

"Yes... I'm fine," Alec said with a frown, a little confused.

"Are you sure? Because Clary and Jace talked to us for a while and you just checked out. "Magnus said looking straight into Alec's eyes.

"Yes, Magnus. I'm fine, okay? It was just vertigo, "Alec said and Magnus nodded. "No need to worry."

"Okay, I believe you," Magnus said as they walked through the party. "Did you hear that Jace also does martial arts? I’ve been asking you to teach me and you never do.”

"And take the risk of you using jiu-jitsu on me when it's my turn in the kitchen and I end up messing up the food? No, thanks." Alec said folding his arms and Magnus laughed softly.

"Why bother using jiu-jitsu on you if I can throw the pots at you?"

"I don’t know what's the worst," Alec said with a frown.

"Tonight, you and I are going to the beach." Magnus said and saw that his sister was calling him.

"Just you and me?" Alec asked with a smirk on the corner of his mouth.

"Alec! What a perverted mind, but yes" Magnus said winking at Alec. "Now I'm going to see what Amber wants before she comes here and pull me by the hair." Alec nodded and left a kiss on Magnus' lips.

Alec watched Magnus walk over to his sister and then glanced at the ring on his finger. It was still strange to have it there, but he certainly could get used to it.

"Alec!" He heard Anne's voice and saw her running up to him as she gripped the bars of her dress. "I asked the DJ for a little something. Come with me." She took Alec's hand and led him onto the dance floor.

"What are you going to do?" Alec asked half-lost. "You're not going to make me dance, are you?"

"Oh, yes, I am." Anne smiled at the bastard and the music started.

 _It's getting late_  
_I'm making my way over to my favorite place_  
_I gotta get my body moving shake the stress away_

"I can’t believe you remember," Alec said with a laugh.

"What? I would not remember the time we left the house late at night to go to a nightclub and I tried to get you with some girl and you told me that you were gay and it was that song that was playing? Of course I remember, Alec, we were both seventeen. "

"Yeah, and then you went out asking every kid out there who looked suspicious if they were gay."

"There was one who said that for you he would turn anything, and as far as I can remember, he turned out to be your boyfriend."

"Wait, was it Ethan?

"Himself. When you introduced him to me as your boyfriend I even laughed. "Anne said and they both laughed.

Alec saw Jace in the middle of the party, he was in a corner talking to Clary and another blue-haired guy. Alec could not get out of his head that something was wrong with that blond.

Helen looked around as she drank her juice, she felt a little out of place to be at a party and could not drink any liquor because she was pregnant.

"Helen." A firm, feminine voice called out to her.

Blackthorn frowned and looked away, Natalie's red hair matched her furious expression.

"Hi, Nat." Helen said, half afraid.

"Where are the others?" Natalie asked seriously looking at people dancing.

"Mark’s in the bathroom, Aline went get something at the buffet to eat, Kieran, Clary and Jace are there and Kit and Ty must be grabbing some corner around." Helen said looking at the sorceress.

"Find them and find me near the altar," she said, and in a heartbeat she was gone.

Helen thought warlocks could be very strange when they wanted to. The blonde finished taking her juice and got up from where she was sitting, walked quickly to where Jace, Clary and Kieran were.

"Guys, Natalie is here and she wants to meet everyone near the altar." Helen said as the three of them were looking at her.

"Why is she here?" Kieran asked, looking confused.

"I don’t know, she didn’t say.” Helen said and sighed, putting her hand on her spine. "Can you guys go after Mark and go meet her? I'm going to look for my brother and his boyfriend and my wife. "

"I'll go look for him," Kieran said and Helen nodded.

"Don’t you want me to go after them, Helen?" Clary asked, taking a few strands of hair from her face.

"Is it because I'm pregnant? I told you, I'm pregnant, not dead.” Helen said and Clary shrugged. "Go to the altar and I'll go look for them."

Clary and Jace nodded, walking to the altar. Helen took a deep breath and followed Aline into the buffet. To her surprise, she found her talking to Alec. Swore at Aline mentally and walked quickly to where she was with Alec.

"Hi, guys," Helen said, forcing a smile.

"Hi, love," Aline said looking at her.

"Can I steal her from you a little bit?" Helen said speaking to Alec and he nodded. "Come with me."

Helen took Aline's arm and they went to a place where there were not so many people.

"Natalie is here and wants to talk to everyone, she does not look happy at all." Helen said it would and Aline's eyes widened.

"Shit, shit, shit," Aline said, running her hand over her forehead.

"What is it?" Helen asked, looking confused.

"I know what that is about." Aline stared into Helen's eyes, realizing that this was a serious matter.

"Your face is not good at all."

"Jace can not be so close to Alec, Helen."

"Oh, my God." Helen sighed. "But we have to find Kit and Ty. I already talked to Jace, Clary and Kieran." Helen said and Aline tucked hair behind her ear.

Aline said that she knew where they were, and they walked to a part of the yard where it was not decorated, the two of them were sitting on a black woman watching the sea.

"I'll talk to them, wait here," Aline said and Helen nodded.

Penhallow took the hem of her dress and ran as Kit and Ty were, spoke to the two of them, who looked at Helen and left with Aline.

The four of them went to the altar, where Natalie was already waiting for them along with Mark, Jace, Kieran and Clary, when he saw that they were all there she got up from the stairs.

"I just wanted to know one thing: Why? Why did you get so close to Alec? Especially you, Jace," Natalie said, pacing back and forth. "I gave you the invitation to watch from afar!"

"What do you mean, Nat? I thought there would be nothing much. "Clary asked the warlock, who squinted and looked directly at Clary.

"But of course I'd have trouble, Clary. Alec was parabatai of Jace, even when the connection is broken, the emotional connection is still there. Alec may not remember, but it's all there and you remember, Jace." Natalie said and bit her nervous lip.

Jace dropped his body against the chair and looked to nowhere, the last thing he wanted was to bring trouble for Alec.

"And what could happen to that, Natalie?" Mark asked with a frown.

"Honestly? I don’t know." She said and sat on the stairs again. "This has never happened, because everyone who has given up on the marks hasn’t had a parabatai. But there are several rumors about this, especially at Clave. Why do you think they called you into the Boardroom before you went back to New York, Jace? "

"They told me not to look for him, or to keep any contact," Jace said in a choked voice. "But ... He's my brother and I made a promise to him, I have to keep it."

"Look, Jace, I get it, okay? You have a reputation for being very loyal, and I know that. Only too much loyalty can be deadly. "

Everyone there was silent and Natalie tried to think through all the noise of the party that was happening right next to it.

"I have no idea what can happen from now on," Natalie said, looking away at the nephilim in front of her. "But in a few hours the spell I cast for Alec to think that he knows Clary will be undone and he won’t even remember that you were here. You better put the rune of invisibility and get the hell out of here. Because I'm going. "

Natalie walked out of the party and disappeared quickly. The nephilim looked at each other.

"It is? Will he never know who we are again? "Kit said after a few minutes.

"No one knows, Kit, there's no telling." Ty said entwining his fingers with her boyfriend.

"He's right," Helen said and stood up. "The best we can do now is to leave."

"Are we just going to leave? Without doing anything? "Jace asked swallowing dry.

"There's nothing we can do, Jace," Clary said looking at her husband from the corner of her eye.

"And, Jace? Don’t forget he was the one who chose to be here." Aline said and took Helen's hand, the two of them started walking to the exit, Ty and Kit, who had come with them, accompanied them.

"You two can go, I'll find a way to get back with him," Clary said with a hand on Jace's shoulder. Mark nodded and he and Kieran stood up.

"If something happens, call me, okay?" Mark said putting a hand on Clary's shoulder before leaving.

Clary looked at Jace who was there, but it seemed to be with the world mind far away. The redhead sighed and stood in front of the blonde, who raised his eyes to his wife.

"Come on, Jace." Clary took Jace's hand from the chair the next second.

Jace murmured something Clary did not understand and walked outside the Callahan estate.

"Where are we going?" Jace asked when they had already walked a little.

"To the beach," Clary said and crossed the street. "It's good to see the waves passing by, it'll do you good."

When they reached the sand, Clary kicked off her heels. Close to the water, the redhead sat on the floor leaving her purse and shoes aside, Jace did the same.

"Take it off," Clary said, pointing to Jace's jacket, the blond took it off and loosened his tie angrily.

Clary and Jace continued to stare at the waves breaking and forming rapidly, the moon reflected in the water leaving a beautiful image. Because it was still summer, the weather was warm and windy.

"Looking at nature all seems so simple," Jace murmured after a long time. "Until a mermaid appears"

Clary laughed and Jace lay on the sand, staring at all the stars in the sky. Clary stopped laughing and lay next to Jace.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked as she made drawings in the sky with the stars.

"About how the world is unfair to good people," Jace said and Clary looked at him. "And how nobody can ever do anything about it."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the music that plays in that anne-alec scene is "dont stop the music" by rihanna


	18. Chrysanthemum

**_Chrysanthemum_ **

_Happiness, complete life, truth, sincerity, perfection, simplicity, love, fragile love, passion._

Alec took Magnus' arm as they walked along the beach, decided to sit on the sand when they were a few feet from the water.

"Aren’t they gonna miss us?" Alec asked looking at Magnus, who put his jacket on the sand and lay on top of him.

"Of course not, they’re too drunk for that." Magnus said and Alec lay on his chest.

"I still can’t believe we're married," Alec murmured, looking at the water.

"Do you regret it?"

"Are you crazy? No, never. "Alec said taking Magnus' hand and squeezing it.

Magnus smiled and kissed Alec lightly, taking his hand to the back of Alec's neck, pulling him closer. The two rolled in the sand and Alec felt sand in his ear.

"I don’t think there's going to be a saint who can get the sand out of this outfit," Alec said with a laugh.

"I don’t think this is going to be a problem," Magnus said looking up at Alec. " _And I would give up forever to touch you, ‘cause I know that you feel me somehow. You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be. "_

Alec smiled and Magnus hugged him back, Alec kept the music quietly until she finished.

"I love this song," Alec said looking at his husband, who ran his thumb across his cheek, smiling.

"It reminds me of you, Angel."

Lightwood loved it when Magnus called him like that, and he loved the way Magnus spoke the word angel. It was as if he were different from everyone, in his only special way.

Alec looked to the side and saw a blond boy, a few meters from where they were, who was in his clothes all wrinkled and dirty with sand. What appeared to be his suit jacket was tossed about him anyway, and his tie was hanging from his shoulders.

"Magnus, look," Alec said glancing at Magnus.

"He seems to be crying, I wonder what happened." Magnus asked with a frown.

Something inside Alec told him to go talk to that boy, see what was wrong and try to help him. Which was very strange, because Alec was always a shy boy to talk to who he does not know, let alone with laurels sitting on the beach in the middle of the night, and that didn’t change much when he grew up. But something about that blond one aroused Alec's curiosity.

Lightwood rose from the sand and ran his hand over his trousers to remove the sand, left his jacket next to Magnus, who watched him with a strange expression.

"You're not going there, are you?" Magnus asked, taking Alec's arm.

"Asking is not going to hurt," Alec said and Magnus rolled his eyes.

"What if he's a kidnapper who wants to get someone extremely attractive with blue eyes and black hair?"

"Magnus, don’t worry, okay? Nothing will happen." Magnus sighed and let go of Alec's arm, he murmured a low thank you.

Alec turned to look at the blond boy who was still the same way moments before, with his hand on his forehead, his legs flexed against his abdomen and tear-like.

The brunette hated to see people crying, but he never got to go talk to them to know what had happened, he always imagined hypothetical situations of what they could be going through and it was something fun to do.

After a long sigh, Alec felt his hands sweat, wiped them on his pants and kept walking to the stranger.

"Hey, are you okay?" Alec asked when he was less than a meter from the blonde.

The boy wiped his face with his bare hands and looked at Alec, his eyes were red and looked scared to have been caught crying.

"Yes, I am," he said without looking at Alec. "Or that's what I try to believe."

Alec was a bit confused and sat down next to the blonde, leaving only a few inches between them. The dark-haired man stared out at the sea and saw the blond staring at him.

"What happened?" Alec muttered, drawing his hand in the sand. "I'm just a stranger on the beach, I promise I won’t tell anyone."

The blonde frowned at what Alec was drawing, it just seemed like a bunch of random, pointless things.

"I lost my brother, who was my best friend." The blonde said still looking at the drawings. "And everyone pretends that everything is okay when they're not."

Alec was a bit confused and looked at the blonde as he spoke, now he seemed to be a bit angry.

"They say it was his choice, but I understand that was the only way out. He just wanted to be happy and for that he had to abandon everyone. It was unfair to him and to us. "

"Oh, but he's not dead, right?" Alec said and the blond shrugged.

"At this point I don’t even know if that makes any difference. They want him to be dead to everyone." The blonde took a deep breath, staring at the sea, which invaded the beach more and more.

"Oh, that's bad. Too bad. But nothing prevents you from seeing him again, no matter what others say." Alec said and drew something that came into his mind at the moment. "If there's one thing I've learned, it's not to care what others say, it just keeps you down."

Alec smiled and the blonde looked at what he was drawing in the sand again and startled. Alec finished the drawing and felt his mind get confused.

 

_Clave._

_Blood._

_Demons._

_Pain._

 

The blond widened his eyes and took Alec's hand, which blinked several times and lifted from the sand quickly.

"I... I have to go." Alec stammered and walked back quickly to where Magnus was.

The blonde looked from Alec to the drawing and drawing to Alec. He felt a hand on his shoulder and Clary's voice behind him.

"I couldn’t find a place that sells hot dogs at this time of night, but I got coffee," Clary said, handing one of the glasses to Jace and sitting next to him.

Jace took the glass firmly and Clary found it strange, he was using too much force for a cup of coffee.

"Clary. Look, "Jace said, pointing to the sketch.

"That's... Oh, my God." Clary said looking at the sketch.

 “Angelic Power? Yes. "Jace said and undid the drawing.

Clary had seen Jace and Alec talking and had decided to take a little longer so as not to disturb, Jace deserved it. He had lost one of the most important people to him and talk to Alec, even with him having the faintest idea of who Jace was, it was already a relief.

"We have to leave." Clary undid the drawing with her fingertips and lifted her off the floor. "You heard Natalie, Jace. As much as I find it horrible and you deserve to talk, you can not be near him."

Jace closed his eyes for a moment and the next second lifted from the sand, took his jacket and left it on the shoulder. Clary handed her coffee to Jace.

"I'm going to hail a cab." The redhead said, moving her purse and pulling out her cell phone.

According to Magnus, Alec looked like he had seen a ghost, which was kind of weird because Alec didn’t get scared that easily. The brunette sat on top of his jacket and Magnus stared at him.

"What happened?" Magnus asked, wiggling Alec's hair, who frowned and looked at him.

"What?" Alec muttered and blinked several times. "He lost his brother."

"Lost? That’s sad, I don’t know what I would do if I lost Amber." Magnus said laying his head on Alec's shoulder, which he wrapped around his waist. "As much as she bothers me."

"Yeah, I know," Alec said, staring at the water.

_You won’t lose me, Alexander._

Alec frowned and ran a free hand through his eyes, and Magnus stared at him out of the corner of his eye.

"Did you say anything?" Alec asked and Magnus let go of Alec's grip.

"No, why?" Magnus said looking directly at Alec.

"Nothing... It was nothing, I just thought I heard you say something."

"You’re weird."

_But you've given up so much for others, you've done so much for others, why not do something for yourself?_

Alec's head was throbbing and thousands of voices and words in his mind, he wanted to scream so that all of them would stop. He felt Magnus's arms around him, he could hear his voice, but he could not understand what he was saying.

Magnus caught Alec's chin, his eyes that were wide and frightened clinging to Magnus, who was trying to get Alec to speak.

Lightwood squeezed his temples and realized Magnus stopped talking, just hugging him harder. The pain in his mind would not stop, the voices would not shut and Alec fainted in the chaos.

*

_Blonde hair, black, red. Vampires, werewolves, fairies, shadows._

Alec woke up thinking he had been watching too much sci-fi and fantasy movies. He felt his  eyes burn with the light in the room.

He ran his hand over his face, trying to get his eyes accustomed to the sudden light. He looked around and recognized his bedroom, had little furniture and two pictures of him with his family.

He set the blanket aside and got out of bed, he was no longer in the his wedding suit, he wore a black tank top and a pair of shorts. Alec frowned, not understanding what was happening.

He reached for his cell phone and saw that it was after than ten o'clock the morning of the day after his wedding, walked quickly to the window and saw that all the decorations were still there.

He turned off the cell phone and left it lying on the bed, went out the door and realized that the house was silent and all the doors on that floor were closed.

If that was the morning after his wedding day, it was for him to be on his honeymoon with Magnus. But no, he was still at his parents' house in the Hamptons, watching the hallway of a deadly silence and some clothes lying on the floor.

He walked up the stairs and down slowly, his head still a little dizzy, Alec did not know if it was because of the clarity in his eyes soon after waking or if he had exaggerated the drink the night before.

The downstairs was just the same, silent and with pieces of clothing and drinks thrown on the floor. Alec heard a noise from the kitchen and walked quickly to the room.

Magnus was there, stirring something in the kitchen. Alec stood in the doorway and watched him, Magnus seemed focused and hummed a song that Alec probably did not know.

"Hi." Alec said walking to where Magnus was.

Bane turned his gaze away from whatever he was cooking on the stove and looked at Alec, turned off the fire, and walked over to Alec, hugging him.

"You scared me, Alexander," Magnus said, his face against Alec's neck. "Never do that again."

"Hey, what did I do?" Alec asked, looking worried.

Magnus dropped his embrace and looked into Alec's lost blue eyes.

"What do you remember from last night?" Magnus asked, sitting down in one of the chairs near the kitchen counter.

Alec raised an eyebrow and sat in the chair beside Magnus as he tried to remember last night.

"I remember you taking me out on our wedding party to go to the beach. We stayed there for a long time. There was another couple on the beach too, a redhead and a blonde, they looked happy together. I remember the two of us singing Iris, from the Goo Goo Dolls, and after that it's a black hole in my mind. Did I drink too much? "Alec asked placing a hand on Magnus' thigh, who placed his hand over his.

"Actually, you didn’t drink anything," Magnus said, and Alec frowned. "At the beach, you started screaming shut up, shut your mouth with your hand on your head, and fainted in my arms. I brought you here without anyone seeing you, because you did not look drunk, I waited for the party to end and I went to see Anne to see if you'd had anything to drink, and she said that besides the champagne when it was time to cut the cake, do not. "

"That's weird," Alec said, a little confused.

"You were off for a few minutes after that and ended up waking up. I took you into the bathroom and helped you shower, then you were asked to watch Twilight, which I found even stranger because you never liked those movies. I found them in your sister's drawer and you fell asleep again in the middle of the second movie. "

Alec looked at Magnus, still looking confused.

"That explains the dream I had," Alec said and remembered something else. "What about our trip?"

"I called the airline and left the tickets pending. You were more important than the trip and I was not going to put you fainted on a plane. "Magnus shook Alec's hand, which gave a shy smile.

"Thank you." Alec murmured and Magnus gave Alec a simple kiss.

"You're okay now, right?" Magnus said holding both Alec's hands, who looked into his eyes and smiled.

"Yes, I am," Alec said and Magnus nodded from the chair.

"You're hungry, right?" Magnus said and Alec felt his stomach growl.

"A lot, actually." Alec said putting his hand on his belly.

"I'll make something for both of us to eat," Magnus said, and Alec nodded, watching Magnus stir the stove again.


	19. Achucena

**_Achucena_ **

_Haughtiness, elegance, grace, purity, anguish, sadness._

**_Six months later_ **

The place was totally stuffy and reformed, it had been a while since he had been to Pandemonium, but he still remembered every corner of that nightclub. Jace saw Simon, who was walking on the other side and gave him a nod.

Clary and Izzy were more ahead of the two and looked discreetly on all sides looking for the demon, as there were many people in the nightclub. It was more difficult to identify, especially if it was the type that changed shape.

In the VIP area, Jace spotted the demon about to kill two teenagers. Herondale rolled his eyes and the demon noticed.

"Nephilim." The demon said dropping the two teens on the floor and walking to Jace. "You're at a disadvantage here."

"Shut up," Jace said, kicking the demon's belly, throwing it against the wall.

Jace ran to the girls and lifted them off the ground quickly.

"Get out of here!" They both sat up and ran scared from that place.

The demon, who was no longer looking like a forty-year-old businessman, smiled at Jace as he attacked him.

"Don’t you have any friends around here, Nephilim?"

Jace tried to shove his seraph blade into the demon, but it was faster and deflected.

"Not even... A parabatai?" Jace blinked several times, looking directly at the demon. "Yes, Jonathan Herondale. I know who you are and I know what's happened to you and your parabatai. "

"So you also know that he never goes out alone." Jace heard Simon's voice and then the demon crumbled in front of him.

Simon had a smile on his lips and winked at Jace as he held his seraph blade. It felt like Jace's heart would come out of his mouth.

"Are you okay?" Simon asked and Jace nodded, feeling the sweat on his forehead.

"I’m fine. Where are the girls? "Jace asked looking sideways at Simon.

"They found the other demon."

"That was fast," Jace muttered, shrugging and picking up his cell phone. "I sent a message to Clary telling her to meet us outside."

Jace and Simon left Pandemonium and sat on the pavement waiting for Izzy and Clary.

"Jace, can I ask you something?" Simon said looking at the people on the street, it was an interesting thing, he could see them, but they couldn’t see him.

"You just did one, but talk." Jace said and Simon chuckled.

"Don’t kill me for asking, but after the wedding, did you go to see Alec?"

Jace looked at Simon with a frown and tightened his wake.

"Only once," Jace murmured "and it was by mistake, it's been a long time since then."

That was a lie, and Jace knew it. As much as Natalie had said it was for them to stay away from each other, Jace couldn’t live with the idea that he would never see him again, so with Mark's help he would always go to Alec's building until he moves out.

With that, they turned up some meetings in the markets and elsewhere, Alec never recognized Jace and sometimes didn’t even realize that he was there.

"I miss him."

"Me too, Simon."

Jace felt arms around his neck and Clary's voice behind him, along with Isabelle's steps hitting the asphalt. Simon and Jace got up off the sidewalk and started walking to the Institute.

"Ouch, I'm so sorry." A guy who had just run past Jace and ended up bumping into him said.

Jace was out of reaction, he knew that voice. He saw Isabelle, Clary, and Simon looking at him, they also knew the owner of that voice.

"Can you see me?" Jace asked turning to face Alec.

"Of course I can see you, you're not the man’s version of Susan Richards!"

Jace cursed himself mentally, it was not for him to be able to see him, he still had the rune of invisibility.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I wasn’t paying attention. "Alec said crossing his arms and walking back to where he was going.

Clary, Simon, and Izzy still stared at Jace as if they had just seen a ghost. Jace swallowed hard.

"What just happened here?" Clary asked looking at the other three people who were there.

"I have no idea."

The only thing in Jace's mind as he and the others walked back to the Institute was what had happened to Alec to be running desperate like that.

Upon arriving at the Institute, Jace went after Kit, more precisely, his boyfriend, the two were watching something on television, but nothing that could not be recorded and seen later, in Jace's mind.

Half of the Blackthorns had come to the Brooklyn Institute because of the new baby in Los Angeles who wouldn’t stop crying, Jace imagined Helen and Aline getting so crazy about those so many people at home and a crying baby that they had to send half the people away for a while.

"Ty? Can I talk to you?" Jace said in a corner of the room.

Kit paused the DVD and picked up the bucket of popcorn from Ty's lap.

"Go, I'll wait for you." Kit said filling his hand with popcorn.

"If you watch without me, I'm going to hit your head with the DVD cover." Ty said getting up from the couch and going to Jace.

"Have I told you how beautiful you look when I pretend to be angry?" Kit said with a smile on his lips.

"Shut up, Herondale."

Jace thought those two boys were a bit masochistic in a totally weird and cute way.

"What do you want?" Ty asked looking at Jace.

"Can you trace Alec? I'm worried about him, " Jace said, and Ty frowned.

"Of course, this is easy, I just need his number and a computer." Ty said, relaxing his shoulders.

"Let's go to the library, then." Jace murmured and Ty nodded as they walked to the library.

Ty sat in the chair in front of the computer desk and began to tinker with some programs that Jace didn’t understand.

"Do you have his number?" Ty asked looking at Jace from the corner of his eye.

Jace pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, looked for Alec's number, and showed Ty, who looked from Jace's cell phone with a strange expression.

"I thought that you'd stay away from Alec was some kind of law." Ty spoke by typing the number.

"And since when do Blackthorns care about the law?" Jace said crossing his arms and Ty raised an eyebrow.

"Well, sounds fair.” he murmured, returning the cell phone to Jace. “According to the GPS of his cell phone, he's at Central Hospital here in Brooklyn. And, according to his messages, something happened to someone called Anne, I think it must be his adopted sister.”

"Oh, that doesn’t look good." Jace said, tapping his fingers on the table.

"Can I go back to my boyfriend or do you still need me for something?" Ty asked rising from his chair.

"No, you can go." Jace said, still staring at the computer screen.

 

**_Mom:_ ** _Alec, did something happen to Anne? The hospital just called here, but I'm not in town. Answer me._

**_Magnus:_ ** _Honey, I think you'd better come to the hospital._

**_Alec_ ** _: Why? What happened?_

**_Magnus_ ** _: Don’t worry, just come. It's the one you were last year._

Jace read and reread those four messages several times, he didn’t know what to do. It was none of his business, Alec was no longer his parabatai, in fact he had no connection to Alec any more. But he still cared so much.

He gripped the phone with one hand and slipped it into his pocket again. He shut down the computer and left the Institute, without talking to anyone. He picked up the motocycle he had stolen from the vampires and never returned and walked to the hospital.

He parked in front of the ER, which is where they probably would be. Jace took his stele and reinforced the Invisibility rune.

He entered the hospital with little movement, only a few patients who didn’t appear to be an emergency. He saw Alec talking to a nurse on the counter, she said something to him, who nodded and walked off with another nurse. Jace followed them both within a reasonable distance.

"And my sister, Anne, do you know where she is?" Alec asked the Nurse, his voice sounded nervous.

"She's in the Operating Room. Dr. Shepherd just took her. A resident will come and let you know as soon as we have some information, okay? This is the room where your husband is." The nurse said and Alec nodded as she walked back to the ER.

Alec opened the door and entered the room, Jace stood outside, staring out the window.

Magnus had some cuts on his face that were already sewn and bandaged. Alec hugged him tightly, Magnus complained because he was sore.

"You can hug me, but not so tight.” he said with a faint smile forming on his lips.

Alec sat next to him on the hospital bed and Magnus rested his head on Alec's shoulder, which he sighed and took in his hand.

"What happened, Magnus? The nurses didn’t tell me anything!” Alec's voice sounded serious.

Magnus blinked a few times and glared at Alec. Jace noticed Alec's shoulders and muscles tensing.

"Anne and I were in the car, she was driving and talking about her new boyfriend. A dog appeared on the track and she tried to divert, but the car ended up hitting a post and flipping. Her belt broke and she flew out of the car window, I got stuck, but nothing serious happened to me. Just a few scratches and cuts because of the glass." Magnus said looking at Alec.

"Are you sure?" Alec asked worriedly. "Because I can call a doctor and..." Magnus interrupted him.

"I'm fine, okay? Just a little dizzy because of the flips the car gave, but the doctors gave me a lot of medication when I got here and minutes before you arrived." Magnus said and Alec took a deep breath, relieved. "What about Anne? How is she? They didn’t want to tell me anything about her. "

"A nurse told me she's in surgery now; there was not much to be said right now."

Magnus bit his lip and nodded slowly, Alec gave him a quick kiss and the two hugged in silence, Jace couldn’t think what was supposed to be going through their minds at that time and he definitely didn’t know anything about mundane hospitals and how they worked.

Herondale felt his stomach ache, he hadn’t eaten since early morning. He noticed a sign attached to the ceiling indicating the cafeteria with arrows. Jace thought he could go back and forth quickly to find out what had happened to Anne.

He took his stele and made a scratch on the invisibility rune, making it lose its effect. He walked to the cafeteria, bought a sandwich, and came back quickly after eating it.

Near the room where Magnus was, Jace remade the rune and walked slowly into the room. A blond doctor in light blue clothing stood in the doorway, apologizing.

Alec noticed the doctor standing at the door and rose from Magnus' bed. The doctor entered with some exams of Magnus.

"I'm Dr. Wang, I think the last time we saw you, you were fainting. And you are...?" She had a formal smile on her lips.

"Alec Lightwood. His husband, "Alec said, and the doctor nodded, placing Magnus' exams on a screen to show them.

"These are your x-rays and CT scans, Mr. Bane. Everything is in perfect condition. No broken bone or fracture, much less internal bleeding, which is very good. I talked to Dr. Adams and he said it was best to keep him here for the night, just in case, because you, Mr. Bane, had been in a very ugly accident. "

"It's ok. And my sister-in-law, who was with me in the accident. Anne Marie Callahan? How is she? "Magnus asked and Alec thanked him softly.

"Last time I checked, she was being prepared for surgery, but I can look here." The doctor took a tablet and quickly moved it. "Yeah, she's still in surgery with Dr. Shepherd and Meyers. She's in good hands."

"Thank you, Doctor." Alec said and she nodded as she left the room, still with that formal smile on her face.

Jace wondered if all the doctors had this smile that looked sarcastic on his face, because it really annoyed him.

Minutes later, a black-haired doctor in a dark blue uniform and another red-haired, light-blue uniform, like the other doctor, appeared near Magnus' room. They didn’t have that smile on their face.

The red-haired doctor looked sad and confused, the brunette was like a statue. They looked at each other before entering the room.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Shepherd and this is Dr. Meyer. We’re Anne's doctors. I believe you're her brother, Alexander? "The dark-haired doctor said referring to Alec.

"Yes, it's me. Is she out of surgery?" Alec asked seriously, and Magnus stared at him.

"That's what I came to talk to you about. Do you mind if we go outside? Dr. Meyes here has to update Mr. Bane's information. "

The doctor said, and Alec thought it odd, but he escorted her out of the room.

They were a few feet away from Jace, Alec was with his back to him, so even if he could, he would not see him there.

"Your sister came here with serious internal and external injuries, and the most serious damage was the brain. We immediately took her to the Surgery Room, but she had two heart attacks and we were able to revive her; but there was a third one and we were not so lucky that time." The doctor said it would be, Jace thought the attendants would be robots and the residents were the happy marionettes.

"I don’t understand... Are you saying that...?" Alec asked in a gasping voice, he seemed to be wanting to cry.

"I'm sorry, but your sister has passed away. We tried everything we could, I did everything I could, but it was too late.” Dr. Shepherd said squeezing Alec's shoulder, which had brought his hand to his mouth, not believing what he had just heard. “I'll give you privacy, excuse me.”

The doctor left quickly, but Jace noticed her eyes filling with tears. They were not robots, after all.

Alec blinked a few times if he entered the room, at the same moment the redheaded doctor left and leaned against the door. Magnus looked at Alec, not understanding what was happening.

"What happened? Why are you crying? "Magnus asked taking Alec's hand, his face already red.

"Anne... She... She's dead, Magnus."

Magnus was frightened and hugged Alec, who cried to the point of sobbing, ran his hand through his hair knowing that there was nothing he could do to make the pain that Alec was feeling gone.

Jace stared at the scene with his heart in his hand, felt his eyes fill with water and closed them slowly, wishing none of it was real. He didn’t want Alec unhappy, the only thing Jace wanted was for Alec to be happy, he deserved to be happy.

The Herondale sat on the floor, staring at the white wall in front of him, feeling that the only thing he wanted to do at that moment was to enter that room, to hug Alec and say that everything was going to be okay.

 

 

 


	20. Bonina

  
 

**_Bonina_ **

_Beautiful and beloved woman, trusting love._

Alec was quiet and motionless on the sofa. In fact, he didn’t know what to say. His parents' house was full of people, people he didn’t even know. Magnus was at his side, taking his hand without saying anything.

Some people would come and ask him what had happened, probably because Amelia had said that he was in the accident along with Anne.

"Do you want something, Alec? A glass of water or something to eat?" Magnus asked, looking at Alec.

"No." Alec said seriously and Magnus bit his lip.

"Alec, you have not eaten anything since last night, I'm worried about you." Magnus said and Alec took a deep breath.

"Get that plate and let's get out of here." Alec said rising from the couch, Magnus took the plastic plate and followed Alec.

Lightwood had sat on the sidewalk, and Magnus walked slowly to him and sat down beside him. Alec took one of the dumplings and bit.

"I don’t know how they can do that." Alec said after eating the cookie. "Funerals, they’re not a party for those who died, but for those who were alive and that's fricking horrible."

"Since when do you say fricking?" Magnus asked with a frown.

"I don’t know, since today, maybe?" Alec shrugged and picked up one more cookie. "The point is... I don’t know what to do and I don’t want to stay at that horrible funeral with people making jokes to feel better."

"And where do you want to go?" Magnus asked, picking up one of the last muffins on the plate.

"A place where people don’t keeping telling me that my sister’s dead." Alec got up and wiped his hands on his pants. "I already know."

"Where are you going?" Magnus asked looking at Alec, not standing up.

"I just ... I need to be alone, okay?" Alec said and Magnus nodded.

"I'll go back inside then." Magnus said and Alec crouched down and left a kiss on his lips.

The next second, Alec was walking down the sidewalk with his jacket hanging over his shoulder. Magnus sighed and went back into the house.

Alec started to walk aimlessly and found himself in a park in the middle of Brooklyn, sat on one of the benches and watched the children play.

He didn’t know, but a few feet from where Alec was, Jace watched him. In fact, from the time of the funeral he was accompanying Alec, Jace barely slept with the images of Alec seeing the dead sister and having to disconnect the apparatuses of her passing in his mind.

Jace had the invisibility rune, but he didn’t know if Alec could see him, since the last time she wasn’t efficient at him. Jace took a deep breath and walked to the bench where Alec was, sat there leaving only one seat on the bench between the two. He looked at Alec and saw that he had not realized that anyone was there.

He took the stele from his pocket and traced the rune of invisibility slowly, so he didn’t come out of nowhere and didn’t scare Alec. Which did not happen, since when Jace finished deactivating the rune, Alec looked at him startled.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I should have asked earlier if it was taken.” Jace said steadily guarding the wake.

"It was nothing, I'm just kind of distracted today." Alec said without looking at Jace.

"But still, sorry. This is the only place I can see the whole park." Jace said looking at the children, which reminded him of when he came here with Alec.

That guy was no stranger to Alec, but he couldn’t remember where he'd seen him before and it wouldn’t be polite to stare at his face like a madman.

"I can feel that something is bothering you." Jace said looking at Alec.

"I don’t want to tell someone I barely know about my problems. Don’t worry."

"Can I help you?"

Jace knew what had happened to Alec, but wanted to know if he still trusted him, even though he did not know who he was.

"It's not like I'm a bad guy anyway." Alec sighed. "My sister died and I ran away from her funeral because of my family."

"Oh, my condolences, you must’ve been very close." Jace said and Alec nodded. "I lost my brother last year, we were foster brothers, but still. It was horrible."

"Just because you did not have the same blood does not make you any less brothers, Anne and I are... we were adoptive siblings." Alec shrugged and Jace nodded.

"Yeah, I know, but we were more than brothers, I don’t know how to explain."

Alec frowned and looked queasy at Jace.

"Were you guys boyfriends or...?” Lightwood asked without understanding the situation.

"No, no." Jace denied it. "I wanted to say that we were closer than brothers, you know, it's a pretty complicated thing, but we always came to this square when we were kids, coming here reminds me of him."

"Must be awful." Alec stared at the floor.

"It's weird not to have him around, you know? We used to do it all together and now it's just... Me." Jace said Alec ran a hand over his shoulder and felt his head hurt, just as it had hurt at his wedding.

 

_The two had rushed out of the Institute shortly after lunch, Hodge had said that the training would be only later that day so Jace and Alec didn’t think it was bad, they were parabatai so, where one went, the other was together._

_They walked to the park that was just a few streets away from the Institute and sat with their backs leaning on the tunnel, they were little more than fifteen and that place was already getting smaller for both of them._

_"Alec, I think I like Clary." Jace said as soon as the two arrived._

_"Oh, you should talk to her, see if she likes you too."_

_"I already spoke to her last night." Jace said and Alec's eyes widened. "That's when I found out I like her."_

_"And why are you saying this to me?" Alec asked confused._

_"Because I called her to go out and I was wondering if we couldn’t do a double date?" Jace asked with a smile at the corner of his mouth._

_"But I'm not with anyone." Alec frowned, thinking Jace would probably get a girl for him._

_"And that's why I already talked to a boy for you."_

_"But I don't ..." Jace interrupted him._

_"Alec, no, don’t you even start, okay? You don’t have to hide from me, it's just who you are and there's nothing wrong with that."_

_"How did you find out?"_

_"Dude, two things: I'm your parabatai and Isabelle." Alec rolled his eyes._

_"I’ll never tell her anything again." Jace laughed._

Alec woke up with the blond at his side shaking his shoulder with a serious expression and at the same moment everything fled from his mind.

"Are you alright?" The blonde asked, and Alec frowned at him.

The feeling that he knew that blond from somewhere was not going to happen and was already bothering Alec.

"Yeah, yeah, I’m fine." Alec said hoarsely.

 

_"You moved me, Magnus, in a way that I would never think I would be changed; before I met you, I was someone who let himself be broken by the happiness of others, but now... Ah, now I know I can be happy, that I can love and be loved, and you make me feel this way. You’ve taught me so many things, things that I didn’t even think could be learned.”_

Alec looked around the park and Magnus was not there. He didn’t understand why Magnus' voice was in his mind.

"Are you sure? I spent about five minutes calling you and you just stared at that tree in the front without blinking." Jace said blinking quickly, he was worried.

"Yes, I'm sure. It's just a headache." Alec lied.

 

_"I love you, Magnus Bane, and the fact that you are a mundane and I’m a nephilim, will not change what I feel for you."_

_"I know there are big differences between the two of us, mainly because you're a nephilim, but I really love you, and I totally forget those differences when we're together."_

_Alec already knew what was happening._

_"If you think I’m rushing into something, please tell me." Magnus fumbled in his other pocket and pulled out a red box from inside. "Alexander Gideon Lightwood, will you marry me?"_

This time, Alec closed his eyes tightly with so much pain in his head. This was not normal.

"No, I’m not fine." Alec opened his eyes and rose from the bench.

"Do you want me to call an ambulance?" Jace asked looking at Alec.

"No, I'm just going home." Alec said walking.

"And you're going to get home like that?"

"Don’t worry about me, Jace." Jace was speechless, not saying anything else.

Alec walked to the apartment he and Magnus had bought after returning from their honeymoon. He greeted the doorman and climbed up to the floor of his apartment.

He searched for the keys in his pocket and opened the door, the moment he entered the apartment took a deep breath and locked the door. He picked up his cell phone and sent to Magnus that he was home, otherwise he would worry.

He walked into the bathroom and took off the clothes that he’d worn to Anne's funeral, turned the shower on warm and stood under it for several minutes, his head still aching, but not as much as in the park.

Those words and situations that passed in his mind were confusing, Alec didn’t know if they were just dreams or if he was going crazy. Maybe the beating of his head on the asphalt during his crash last year had  been stronger than he and the doctors thought, and now Alec was having hallucinations.

He didn’t know if he was talking to Magnus about what was going on, but Alec didn’t want to worry him, it might just be something about Anne's death, the way his mind was defending himself.

Alec turned off the shower and left the bathroom with the towel tied around his waist, the weather was cold outside because it was late winter, but inside the apartment the temperature was pleasant.

He walked into the bedroom and put on comfortable clothes. After switching, Alec reminded him of Magnus saying he had not eaten anything since last night and felt his stomach ache, he should have listened to Magnus and eaten something.

In the kitchen Alec found what was left of the dinner noodles. He warmed them up in the microwave and ate quickly. He set the dish in the sink to wash afterwards and saw that it was after three o'clock in the afternoon.

He took an aspirin from the kitchen cupboard and took it, the headache hadn’t let go. Alec went back to his room, turned on the notebook and opened a movie on Netflix any, connected the notebook on TV with the HDMI cable and lay on the bed to watch it, but fell asleep halfway through the film.

Alec woke up with a noise coming from the living room and the voice of Magnus cursing something at once. Lightwood frowned and got up from the bed. The notebook and the television were not connected, _Magnus must have turned it off_ , Alec thought.

"What happened?" Alec asked coming into the room.

"I was trying to put the coffee table in place, but it fell and broke." Magnus said with one of the legs of the table in his hand. "Now I'm going to have to take it all out ... And I woke you up, right?"

"No problem." Alec said and hugged Magnus, who released the wood.

"What was that for?" Magnus asked, hugging Alec back.

"Because I love you, Magnus.” Alec said and Magnus smiled.

"No."

The two parted, and Magnus looked at the pile of wood in the middle of the room.

"Leave it, then we'll take it." Alec said and Magnus shrugged.

"So, yesterday I arrived and you were asleep and I got your message, you’re better?" Magnus asked, taking Alec's right hand.

"Yeah, I guess I just needed to get some rest." Alec murmured and Magnus nodded. "And I think it turned out to be a bit much. What time is it?"

"Ten o'clock in the morning, I guess. You must be hungry, come on." Magnus said and the men went to the kitchen.

Alec sat down in one of the chairs and Magnus stirred in the refrigerator.

 

_“I just... I just wanted to spend a night without being a nephilim, one night, with you without having to worry about the shadow world or anything else attached to it.” Alec said as the kiss closed._

_Magnus leaned his forehead on Alec's, wondering how he had the weight of the world on his shoulders because of a nephilim was born and how hard it must have been._

_Things like this had not crossed his mind when Alec had told him he was a nephilim, it was a sad thing to think. The mundane nodded, they could at least try._

_"We can do whatever you want." Magnus said looking at Alec's blue irises, which were so close to his eyes._

_"I just want to stay here, holding you." Alec said quietly, and Magnus hugged him, leaving his head on his chest._

 

Alec frowned as he slowly shook his head. It had not happened.

"Did you say anything, Angel?" Magnus said looking at Alec.

“No, I was just singing; _And though the breeze is through trees, move so pretty you're all I see ass the world keep spinning round, you hold me right here right now_.”

"This song reminds me of our marriage." Magnus said thoughtfully.

 

_"Do you think I care what the rest of the world says? No, I don’t care, as long as I have you, I will not care."_

Alec closed his eyes and saw Magnus' expression as he said that phrase, when he opened his eyes again, he thought this was definitely madness.

 

 


	21. Bluebonnet

**_Bluebonnet_ **

_Sensitivity, delicacy, celibacy, anticipation, perfection_

 

Jace paced back and forth in the Institute's training room, Clary stared at him strangely, as if he had no idea what was happening.

"Jace, you're making me dizzy." The redhead said crossing her arms.

Jace took a deep breath and looked at her as she stopped pacing.

"I guess I screwed up, I'm not sure," Jace said and Clary frowned in confusion.

"What did you get up to, Jace?"

"Remember Natalie told me to stay away from Alec?" Clary nodded. "I did exactly the opposite."

"And what happened?"

"He said my name, Clary, and I hadn’t told him."

"And why is that a problem?"

"Clary, didn’t you realize? He's remembering about the shadow world. "

Jace was cursing himself mentally. It was not his right to deal with what Alec had decided.

"What now?" Clary asked, tapping her fingers on the table.

"I don’t know." Jace sighed. "I guess it's waiting for Natalie's spell to end this."

"Jace, what if it doesn’t end? She said that the parabatai bond is stronger than any spell. "

"He forgot about me last time, it wouldn’t make sense if it didn’t work now."

"Why do I feel like you've got a wrong foot in it?"

"Because I'm not so sure."

 

*

 

In the week that followed his sister's funeral, Alec went to more than two doctors because of his immense migraine that was not even with the strongest of medicines, but all the doctors said the same thing, that it was just a common headache, with some remedies and good nights of sleep it would pass; others said it had to do with the pain of losing Anne, but Alec didn’t believe it.

Besides the pain in his head, he saw things that were not there, and created situations in his head that hadn’t lived, when he told Magnus this, realized that he had been scared.

It had been a month and Alec had not improved at all, he had actually gotten worse, Magnus considered taking him to a psychiatrist.

On the thirty-fourth day after Anne's funeral, Alec woke up with an address in his mind, he did not know if he'd ever heard of that place much less the red-haired woman who appeared talking to him in his mind.

He looked for a paper similar to what he had seen in his dream in a box he never opened, after long minutes he found it. The paper was darker and smelt of dust, but it was the same paper.

 _I'm not going crazy_ , Alec thought as he sighed reading the address.

Magnus had gone to work before Alec woke up, it would be easier to go alone anyway.

Alec changed his clothes so he could leave. He put the paper in his jeans pocket and his cell phone in the other, ate some crackers that he found in the kitchen cupboard so he would not have a stomach ache and left his apartment.

He gave the address to the first taxi driver he found free as soon as he got into the taxi. Alec had an anxiety inside him, he felt that this could be the key to everything.

After a long thirty minutes because of New York traffic, the taxi driver stopped near the address Alec had given him, Lightwood paid for the drive and got out of the cab quickly.

He looked all over the street that despite being completely remodeled, still had traces of the old buildings that had been there before.

He took the paper with the address that was in his pocket again and looked at the number. The nearest building had the number 320, the number on the paper was 335. It was close.

He walked slowly down the sidewalk, aware of all the numbers stuck to the buildings there.

At first, Alec saw that the houses jumped from number 334 straight to 336, which was odd. Alec frowned and looked again at the place between 334 and 336.

A dark glass door with the number 335 appeared. Just below the number, it had the name _Natalie Kate_ written in large and italic letters. That name was unfamiliar to Alec, who reached for the handle that was icy. He turned the knob and the door opened.

 _Okay, that's not weird at all_ , Alec thought, releasing the knob suddenly.

Alec bit the inside of his cheek lightly as he stared at the open door. He took courage and entered.

The hallway was cold and dark, with only a light that illuminated the staircase. Alec climbed the stairs slowly, they didn’t creak, which was a good sign.

Upstairs, alternative music played in low volume, there was only one apartment and it had the door ajar.

Alec walked to the apartment and heard a female voice, which finished opening the door and was startled when she saw Alec there.

" _Oh, boy."_ The redheaded woman said, seeing Alec. "I knew this would happen."

Alec frowned at the woman's violet eyes, she seemed to know him.

"Come in, Alec." Alec was a little startled, but he entered.

The redhead closed the door just as Alec came in, snapped her fingers and the music stopped playing.

Alec stared at the apartment and it had shades of red and black, with some detail in purple, like the eyes of the woman.

"I thought it wouldn’t take that long." she said with a sigh.

"What wouldn’t take so long? What are you talking about? By the way, who are you and why was your address in my house? "

"Hey, there's no reason for you to get excited. Calm down, okay?" The redhead murmured, putting her hand on Alec's arm. "My name is Natalie Kate."

The woman let go of Alec's arm and sat on the couch with her legs crossed, she snapped her fingers and what used to be a pajamas turned into a dress. Alec frowned, finding it strange.

"Sit here." She patted the palm of her hand on the seat next to her. Alec swallowed hard and sat down beside the redhead. "I'm a Warlock, Alec."

"Like, Harry Potter?" Alec asked and Natalie laughed.

"No! It's different. Why does everybody think about Harry Potter? It’s annoying!" Nat said and reached for her cell phone in her pocket. "I'm sure you must have a thousand questions."

Natalie quickly dialed her cell phone and left it on the coffee table in the living room, looking at Alec again.

"I can help you," Natalie said after a few minutes. "But I think you better call your husband."

"What does Magnus have to do with it?" Alec asked.

"Believe me, it has everything to do with him."

That could not be stranger; Alec picked up his cell phone and called Magnus, who answered on the third ring.

_"Alec? What happened?"_

_"Nothing, Magnus, you don’t have to worry. I just wanted to know if you're busy at work?"_

_"Not really, I'm already going lunch, why?"_

_"I need you to come in one place, meet with me."_

_"This is weird, but where?"_

_"I'll send you a message with the address."_

_"Are you sure it's all right, Angel?"_

_"I am, love, don’t worry, I'm fine."_

_"If you say so, I believe, just send me the message and I'll go."_

_"Okay, I'll send it to you, I love you, Magnus."_

_"And I love you too, Alec."_

Alec closed the call and put the cell phone in his pocket, Natalie had a shy smile on her lips.

"You've always been cute."

"Did you know us?" Natalie nodded. "And how come I don’t remember you?"

"Just wait, okay? Everything will be explained. Now I need to do something. "

She took Alec's hand, which closed her eyes, and that agony in her brain, that agonizing pain passed.

Alec opened his eyes again and saw Natalie clearly, she had a shock pink skin, in a way that made an elegant contrast with her red hair.

Colored sparks were all over the living room, Alec blinked several times.

"What did you do?"

"Your Vision is restored, not your memory," Natalie said and stood up. "That's a little more complicated."

Natalie tossed some things into a closet and set them on the table.

"And only a few warlocks can do that kind of spell. Fortunately, I _am_ one of them. I shouldn’t do it, it's forbidden, and I might get screwed, but what can I say? I'm too sentimental. "

Alec didn’t understand what she was talking about. Had he lost his memories? Warlocks? He should be in a totally crazy and pointless dream.

"That must be why I always end my relationships before they get serious." Natalie said looking at the nothingness. "But why am I saying this? Anyway, when Jace and your husband get here I'll be able to do the spell, it's easier if I do it at once. "

Natalie sat next to Alec again, who thought she was too excited.

"So tell me. How's life going? You and Magnus, huh? "

That was a strange question, coming from a strange person he did not know.

"Okay, I guess. We're looking for a surrogate to have a baby, it was going to be my sister, but she died. "

"Anne died? I didn’t know about that. "

"Yes, last month. Did you know my sister? "

"I knew... She and I had a little _something_ two years ago."

The bell rang and Natalie got up and walked to the door, opened it and was a blond man, the same one he had seen in the park the day of Anne's funeral.

"Come with me;" Natalie said taking him by the arm, she looked angry.

The blonde did not say anything and went with Natalie, who took him to a corner of the apartment. Alec thought it was to quarrel with him or something and that she needed privacy, but he could hear them both perfectly.

"What did I tell you about staying away from your parabatai, Jonathan Herondale?" Natalie said in a louder voice and her arms crossed. "Do you realize the position you put to us all here?"

"I didn’t..."

"It's no use trying to justify it now. Alec is remembering things, I had already realized this at one time. Since his wedding day, I had to find a way, but I knew it was a very complicated spell and I was not sure if it would work. Especially because of your call. Never has anyone with a parabatai done that ceremony. "

"And how is he now?" Jace, the blonde, said this time.

"He thinks he's going crazy, of course. He found my address in his things, I don’t know how. "

"What are you going to do?"

"Reverse the spell, give his memories back. Magnus too. That's why I needed you here, it takes someone who has a strong connection with him, someone in the family or something. And who better than you? "

"Okay," Jace said and sighed. "You could have warned me, at least."

"To say that Clave will end my life and probably yours? I don’t think it's good news to get on the phone. "

"You're right," Jace muttered and leaned against the looks.

A knock on the door were heard and Natalie opened it, it was Magnus. His gaze soon reached Alec's, who was totally lost with what was happening.

"Hi, Alec, what are you doing here?" Magnus asked when Natalie gave him room to enter the apartment and closed the door behind her. "Who are they?"

"She said she can help me with my migraines and said she's a witch."

"Like Harry Potter?"

"That's exactly what I said!"

"Why does everyone link any wizard, sorcerer, or anything else to Harry Potter? It's become monotonous! And it’s a _warlock_."

"I think it's because it’s one of the only references to wizards."

"Warlock, for God’s sake! Whatever, Dumbledore, Voldemort and snakes aside, let's get down to business. You need to have your memories back, so do you." Natalie said pointing at Magnus and Alec. "This can hurt, especially in you Alec."

"Wait, what?"

"Just trust her, she knows what she’s doing." Jace said, making Alec look at him.

"Your memories will conflict. What do you think happened, because it is in your mind at that moment and what really happened. It's like parallel worlds, when you're from one and you're thrown into another, your memories come into conflict to fit into that world." Natalie said moving the book on the coffee table. "It's pretty simple when you think about it."

"Simple?" Jace asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, easy peasy. You, Magnus, won’t suffer as much because you are only two years and a few months apart in your mind, but Alec has twenty-six years of fairy tales in his head. "

"Is that bad?" Alec asked.

"It depends on the point of view," Natalie said and walked over to Magnus. "You first."

Natalie took the hands of Magnus, who stared at her strangely.

"No matter what happens, do _not_ let go of my hand," Natalie said looking at Magnus staring into her eyes. "By the way, my name is Natalie."

Magnus was answering something, but at the same moment Natalie murmured some words that Alec didn’t understand, but it seemed to be some kind of Latin and Magnus collapsed.

Alec rose quickly from the couch and went to Magnus, who was lying on the floor.

"What did you do to him?" Alec asked Natalie as he ran his hand over Magnus's unconscious face.

"You'll thank me later," Natalie said and Jace came to her side. "Come, now it's your turn."

"Not until you tell me what you did to him," Alec said and Jace rolled his eyes as he walked over to where Alec was.

"Alec, look at me," Jace said finding next to Alec. "You think you don’t know me, but you know me. And I know you have something inside you saying that you can trust me, no matter how much you fear." Jace took a deep breath and continued. "I would never do anything that would hurt Magnus or you. And I'm sure you can trust Natalie, I do."

"And why should I listen to you?"

"You're right, you shouldn’t. But, you'll never know what happened if you don’t trust me." Jace said a light smile on his lips. "Magnus will be fine, don’t worry, it's just the spell's reaction."

Alec sighed and got up, went over to Natalie, Jace followed.

"Okay, what do I need to do?" Alec wiped the cold sweat from his hands on his pants.

"Give me your hand, you too Jace," Natalie muttered.

Alec clasped his hand in hers and Jace did the same. Natalie stared at the two of them before closing her eyes.

The same words Natalie had said to Magnus before were being spoken with only a few additions.

The pain in his head was a thousand times worse, Alec thought his brain would explode. The light from the window blinded his eyes and he wanted to scream. He could feel Jace's pitying gaze on him.

The images and words in his mind were confused, nothing made the most sense and at the same time made sense.

 

_Anne_

_Isabelle_

_Jace_

_Simon_

_Clary_

_Mark_

_Idris_

_Clave_

Everything passed like a blur in his mind and in a second, Alec ended up falling on the floor of Natalie's apartment.

 

 


	22. Begonia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao I didn't realize that we were so close to the end of this

**_Begonia_ **

_Happiness, cordiality, delicacy_

It had been two days since Alec had been unconscious in one of the Institute's beds. Jace had taken him and Magnus there shortly after Natalie's spell.

Magnus woke up a few hours after the spell, totally frightened and recognizing the Institute and everyone else there.

The Clave still did not know they were there and Jace intended it to continue like this.

"Do you think it'll be long before he wakes up?" Magnus asked sitting on the edge of Alec's bed, running his hand through her hair.

"I dom’t know," Jace said with a sigh. "Natalie said if we spend a week and he doesn’t wake up we can start worrying."

Magnus gave a weak smile to Jace, who looked at Alec with a sad expression.

"I never wanted that to happen," Magnus said after a few minutes. "And it's all my fault, if I had not given my number to him, you would still have your parabatai and he wouldn’t have been through any of it."

"He wouldn’t be happy, Magnus," Jace said, moistening his lips "If there's one thing Alec taught me is that everyone deserves to be happy and for that, sacrifices are needed."

Jace walked around the room and stood beside Magnus in front of Alec's bed, looking directly at Magnus.

"He wasn’t completely happy, not until he met you." Magnus frowned. "When he met you, he got a light I had never seen and I could feel it because of our connection. He had already made so many sacrifices for us all here and it was time for him to think of himself. Don’t think you're guilty. "

"But he suffered so much, Alec didn’t deserve this," Magnus murmured.

"Anyway he would suffer. It's like the mundane say, _bad things happen to good people, it's not fair, but it's just the way the world works_. "

"You're a good person, Jace. Really."

"I owe that to him." Jace smiled weakly at Magnus and left the room.

Jace bit his lip and met Max in the hallway, he seemed to want to see Alec, but something had stopped him. He had come back from Idris a week ago.

"How is he?" Max asked, looking at the door to Alec's bedroom.

"Still asleep," Jace murmured and Max nodded, muttering a thank you. "Don’t you want to see him?"

"Only when he wakes up." Max said and walked down the hall.

Jace never thought that Max was so connected to Alec that way, actually he had never stopped to pay attention to the boy, but since Alec was gone he had locked himself in the Academy in Idris and didn’t leave there for anything. Even had broke up his relationship with Livvy.

Herondale took a deep breath and went into the living room, where Clary and Izzy were talking quietly and stopped as soon as Jace entered the room.

"A call came in a few minutes ago, it looks like there's a demon in the center of town, but I sent the Blackthorns, Simon, and Kit." Clary said as Jace sat down beside him on the couch.

"Okay," Jace hissed. "Alec is still sleeping, this is very strange."

"Didn’t Natalie say to wait a week for him to wake up until we were worried?" Izzy asked, looking at Jace.

"Yes, she did, but I thought he'd wake up sooner."

"Don’t worry, Jace, he'll wake up. I know he will." Izzy said getting up from the couch and leaving the room.

 

*

 

Magnus had his back against the head of Alec's bed when he felt him squeezing his hand. He jumped up from the bed.

"Alec?" Magnus asked quietly. "Angel, can you hear me?"

He was breathing shallowly and anxious, Magnus looked directly at Alec as he squeezed his hand.

"Yes... Magnus, I can hear you," Alec said huskily and slowly opening his eyes.

Magnus smiled.

"How are you?" Magnus asked seeing Alec sitting on the bed, blinking his eyes quickly.

"Dizzy. Looks like it's all spinning." Alec muttered frowning. "It looks like I'm on a child carousel, except it's spinning too fast."

Magnus laughed softly and sat down next to Alec, hugging his torso lightly, to not hurt him. Alec continued to smile, but pressing Magnus against his body.

"I thought you were not going to wake up, I was so scared." Magnus said with his face against Alec's neck.

"I always come back, Magnus," Alec said and the two parted.

Magnus had a smile that could barely fit on his face, he got out of bed still looking at Alec.

"I... I have to go look for Jace and Clary..." Magnus said and Alec nodded.

Magnus left the room and looked for Jace at the Institute, which was huge. Eventually he found Mark while he looked around.

"Hey, Mark, did you see Jace?" Magnus asked.

"I think he's in the Director's office, why?" Mark said rather confused.

"Alec woke up." Magnus said and did not wait for an answer from Mark, he already went after Jace.

He knocked on the door of the director’s office, and Jace's voice soon came out saying he could come in.

Magnus opened the door and noticed Jace's gaze on him.

"What happened?" Jace asked with a frown.

"Alec just woke up." Magnus said quickly and Jace got up from the chair dropping all the papers on the table.

"Alec woke up?" Jace asked in ecstasy, and Magnus nodded. "How is he?"

"He's fine, I guess."

They were in the hallway to Alec's bedroom, which had the door ajar.

Magnus came in first and found Alec talking to Mark, the two stopped talking as Jace entered.

"Alec?" Jace asked in a choked voice. "Do you remember me?"

Alec smiled and walked over to Jace, hugging the strong blond.

Seeing this scene, Magnus remembered how jealous he was of their relationship, now it seemed just silly, because it was a totally different relationship than he had imagined.

"You just couldn’t stay away from me, could you?" Alec murmured and Jace smiled, hugging the brunette back.

"I made a promise, didn’t I? That I would be there even if you were wearing your underwear." Jace said and Alec laughed, undoing the hug.

Magnus thought Alec getting married in his underwear would be a pretty nice picture, but he wouldn’t like all those people looking at his fiancé in underwear.

"I would never get married in my underwear," Alec said with a grimace.

Jace thought that Alec was dealing very well with that situation, or he would be totally broken inside and wouldn’t show it to anyone.

"Alec, I think you need to take a shower because you look like a person who slept for three days, not the good way," Mark murmured. "C'mon c'mon."

"Is that why you brought me those clothes?" Alec asked as Mark shoved him into the bathroom.

"Exactly," Mark said with a fake smile, handing a soap and towel to Alec, who rolled his eyes into the bathroom.

Alec took off his clothes, hanging them on a hook in the bathroom. He opened the door to the stall and started the shower. The warm water that fell on his shoulders made his muscles relax, said that he had been out of action for three days, but it seemed that he had run a marathon that was so tiring that he was feeling it.

His mind was still confused, he still lacked many parts of his memory, but the more recent he had.

Mark breaking up with him because of Kieran; Magnus giving his phone number at the flower shop; Emma and Clary marrying Julian and Jace and stuff like that.

Alec closed his eyes, feeling the water running all over his face. This was very confusing and he didn’t know how he put himself in this situation. He remembered his throat numb from screaming, hearing Jace's screams leaving the room the day they took out their runes.

Alec had never felt so much pain like in that day.

To be honest, Alec wasn’t so sure he had made the best choice, he didn’t regret choosing Magnus, but either way Alec would get hurt.

He didn’t know that it was possible to retrieve the memories after that, he thought it was wasn’t even because the Carstairs woman he had visited had not remembered anything, only recognized his name, Lightwood.

His adopted sister crossed his mind, Anne. Alec wondered if she had been alive if he had not.

What would the Clave do with him now that he had the memories back? Or even with Natalie and Jace? What about the parents he'd had while he was a mundane? Although he was happy to recognize everyone again, he couldn’t help but be worried.

Alec finished his bath and turned off the shower, wiped his body and left the bathroom with the towel tied at the waist.

There was no one else in his old room, only some of his clothes that had been left in the Institute. He got dressed and left the towel hanging on the bathroom door.

He walked out of the room and looked down the hallway to the Institute, everything was like the images in his mind, the old rustic models of the walls and decorations, but still with current touches, probably because of Isabelle.

Alec sighed and started walking down the hall. He heard leaps behind him.

"Hey, who are you..." Alec turned and saw Izzy standing there. "But... no one told me that you had woken up..." she said, stammering.

The girl ran to her brother and hugged him tightly, although he still jumped a little lower than him. Alec smiled at Isabelle's grip.

"Never do this to me again, Alec. Never, "Izzy said in a muffled voice, Alec thought she was going to cry.

"You know I would never have chosen to forget you if I didn’t think it was the only way out, right?" Alec said with his eyes closed, still hugging his sister, who nodded.

"I know, Alec."

The two fell apart and Izzy rubbed her eyes, which were blurry.

"Where’s everyone?" Izzy asked, looking directly at Alec.

"I don’t know," Alec said, running his hand around his neck. "They left me in the room and disappeared."

"They must be in the living room, come." Izzy took his brother's arm, leading him into the living room.

They walked quickly into the living room and found everyone, as Izzy had said, talking there. Max was there too, along with Ty Blackthorn and Kit.

When Isabelle walked in with Alec, they all stopped talking and looked at both of them, as if they were tense. Magnus chewed his lower lip slowly, as he did as much as something bothered him, and Alec noticed it.

"Hi, Alec," Clary said with a faint smile on her lips and Alec answered her briefly.

"What happened?" Izzy realized the tense mood she was in and asked.

"Well, I don’t know how, but Clave found that you have recovered your memories." Jace said and looked at everyone there and then directly at Alec. "The good part is, you, Alec, won’t lose your memories again, not even Magnus."

"And what's the bad?"

"I think you're going to have to sit down for these." Alec frowned and sat down in an empty chair.

"You're scaring me, Jace."

"You will no longer have a place in the Conclave, but you can have access to the Institute."

"I think I already knew that. I don’t have runes or anything. "

"That's not the bad part yet." Jace sighed. "The Clave put a punishment on Natalie for her having cast the spell and broken one of the laws."

"What kind of punishment?" Alec asked rather uneasily.

"She's going to be executed," Jace murmured and Alec was astounded. "And there's nothing we can do, because according to the email that came from Clave, they're doing it right now."


	23. Hyacinth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have 10 days off school so i'm in a good mood lol

**_Hyacinth_ **

_Fear, caution, forgive me, sweetness, discreet beauty, loveliness, stability,_

_persistence, loyalty, playing, playing slack, fun, grief_

 

Alec's eyes widened in alarm, he didn’t think Clave would do that to Natalie, they could not be allowed to.

"They can’t do that! There has to be something we can do." Alec said rising quickly from the armchair.

"I don’t know if there's..." Jace muttered under his breath.

"That portal in your office, Jace, straight to Idris, it still exists, doesn’t it?" Alec asked.

"Yes, it does," Jace said with a frown. "But where do you want to go with this?"

"We could go to Idris and stop it." Izzy said with a raised eyebrow.

"There's no way of knowing if the trial has already been done." Jace said looking at Alec and Izzy standing.

"But what if it hasn’t already happened? It's a possibility too. "Clary said looking at Jace.

"You could be right." Mark said.

"So let's go." Jace said, standing up, but Alec stopped him.

"No, let _me_ go. You can be punished for it, I'm no longer under the Conclave so there's nothing they can do against me." Alec said firmly.

"But still you need to go with one of us, Alec, you’re not going to Idris alone, mostly because of what happened last year." Clary said with her arms folded.

Magnus was looking at Alec just agreeing with what they said, he knew there was nothing he could do to get that idea out of his head. Alec was stubborn, _a lot._

"Alright, Clary come with me," Alec said.

Jace looked a little annoyed at this, he wanted Alec to call him. Clary nodded, saying she was going to change her clothes and they would be going. Everyone who was there went to do other things, leaving Alec and Magnus alone in the living room.

"Alec..." Magnus murmured as he walked over to Alec. "I won’t tell you not to do this, because we both know you're going to do it anyway."

Alec laughed softly and felt Magnus' hand softly on his cheek.

"Just... Stay safe, okay? I don’t want you to get hurt." Magnus said and Alec sighed, leaving a soft kiss on Magnus' lips.

"I'll try." Alec said hugging his husband.

"And come back to me, okay?" Magnus said after leaving a brief kiss on Alec’s lips. "Not in pieces."

"If I come back in pieces, I'm sure you'll love fixing me." Alec teased.

"I’m not kidding, Alec!"

"I know!" Alec smiled. "I love you, Magnus, you know that, right?"

"Of course I do," Magnus said with a simple smile on his lips. "And I love you, Alec."

Alec's smile widened at the words, brought his face close to Magnus', and kissed him slowly.

"Come on, Al ..." Clary jumped, startled. "Oh, well, that's embarrassing."

Magnus and Alec laughed, parting. Alec looked at Clary, whose cheeks were red.

“I’m sorry for interrupting." she said in a clipped voice.

"It was nothing." Alec blinked at the redhead. "And come on, the faster, the better."

Magnus released his hand from Alec's, still looking at the brunette calmly.

"Stay here with Jace and the others until I get back, okay?" Alec said to Magnus, who nodded.

Alec hugged Magnus and entered the hallway with Clary, who was in the shadowhunters' dark leather combat clothing.

"Things may be a little more different than you remember, Alec, a lot has changed since you left." Clary said putting her hand on the door handle.

"What do you mean?" Alec asked, biting his lip.

"The Clave it’s… it's a little stiffer, more than normal. Some Nephilim still don’t believe that Robert let them do it with his own son, with him being the Inquisitor and stuff." Clary said and opened the door.

"That’s bad," Alec murmured as they entered the room.

"Well, that might improve a bit with you appearing in Idris, with the memories back."

"Not if they murder Natalie," Alec said in a loud voice and Clary shrugged discreetly.

The two of them were facing the portal, thought of Idris, and were pulled through the portal.

Alec had already forgotten how a portal trip was totally uncomfortable just to be effective.

They had fallen far from the center of town, which was bad.

"Shit, it should have gone right!" Clary grunted.

"It must be my fault, I still don’t have all my memories back, they’re coming slowing." Alec said as he walked to the side and Clary.

Clary sighed without having anything to say to Alec, it was still strange to have him back. She had grown accustomed to looking around and noticing his absence there.

"So we're going to take an eternity, Alec ..." She said glancing at Alec, who interrupted her.

"I know what you mean." Alec took a deep breath, lifting the sleeve of his shirt. "Just do it."

Clary nodded and took her stele, squeezed it firmly, and took Alec's arm, which squeezed her eyes. She licked her lips and began to draw the rune of speed against Alec's skin, which loosed a few groans of pain.

"I'd forgotten how these things burn." Alec blinked several times as Clary finished the rune.

"We forget that pain most of the time." Clary stealthy guarding the wake.

"You get used to it." Alec murmured as they walked. "It’s different."

On account of the speed rune, the two were walking faster and managed to arrive in a few minutes in the square.

The square was crowded, but everyone was silent. Alec heard his father's voice and then the voice of Consuela.

"Come, let's go this way." Clary said finding a place where there were fewer people.

Alec nodded and they entered the crowd, some people looked at him in surprise, it was obvious they already knew that he had recovered his memories, but surely no one imagined that he would appear in Idris.

"No, don’t do this to her."

Alec frowned and looked at Clary, who was also confused. They passed a few more people and found Robert, Consuela, Natalie, and Jonathan Morgenstern, Clary's brother, in front of the three.

"It's my fault. She doesn’t deserve this punishment. "Jonathan said loudly, for all to hear.

"Jona..." Clary said wanting to run to him.

Jonathan looked at her in a sign that he didn’t want her to go after him. Alec held the girl.

"It was me who left her address at Alec's house, and I knew she was too good and would cast the spell on him." Jonathan cleared his throat. "It was all me."

"Is that true?" Robert said dryly, looking at Jonathan, who nodded.

Some shadowhunters arrested Jonathan and dragged him to the prison in the main building. Robert canceled Natalie's execution and his gaze reached Alec's and sent other people to Natalie. The witch passed by Alec and Clary.

"Your sister... Anne, she's alive." Natalie said and before she could say anything else, was pulled by the Nephilim.

Clary snorted and Alec released her, all the other Nephilim left the square except the two.

"And what are we going to do now?" Clary said with her hand on her hips. "My brother is in jail, Natalie is in jail."

Alec sighed and looked down Idris, the town was just the same as when it came to her the last time.

If Alec and Clary no longer knew what they were going to do to stop Natalie's execution, now that Jonathan had done it, it was impossible to think of anything to solve the situation.

"I do not know." Alec muttered and heard Robert's voice behind him.

"You two, come with me," Robert said looking at Clary and Alec. " _Now_."

 

*

 

Alec stared down the hall of the boardroom, he had done his best not to argue with his father, but it was no use.

Clary paced back and forth waiting for someone to leave the room, her cell phone started ringing and she reached into her pocket.

"It's Jace." the redhead murmured as she answered the phone.

The door to the room opened and some hunters left, and finally Natalie, Alec rose from his chair and hugged the sorceress.

"The Inquisitor told me that you and Clary came to try to stop my trial." Natalie said as Alec closed the hug. "Thanks."

"You don’t have to thank me. What have they decided for your judgment? "

"I can’t do services for the Nephilims for a while." Natalie shrugged. "But that's the least."

"That's less important." Alec said walking down the hallway with Natalie. "But what did you mean in the square? Is Anne alive? "

"Yes, she's alive," Natalie said with a small smile.

"How can this be true?" Alec asked, looking confused.

"We forged her death. Remember when I said she and I had a little something a few years ago?"

"I remember, but I thought she didn’t have the memories anymore." Alec said with a frown.

"She had, she was the only one there who had all the memories." Natalie moistened her lips. "I told her about the shadow world when we dated, and I went after her when Clave told me what they wanted to do to you and asked what she wanted to do, she agreed as long as her normal memories were not affected."

"So, she knew everything?" Alec asked, glancing at Natalie.

"She knew everything. And when Anne realized that your memories were coming back, she came to me and told me. And it was she who had the idea to do this, it took a while for me to be able to do this, but it worked. And it was she who left my address at your house. "

"And who was buried in her place?"

"A person who really died and if you go to the cemetery will see the name of that person. Anne is in my apartment. "

"I don’t even know what to say," Alec said in a confused voice. "I think I need some time."

"And you need to go back to New York, Robert has a portal made for us to go back."

"Clary will want to see her brother."

"I know, but they won’t let it. The Clave is furious with him. "

Alec bit his lip and nodded slightly as the two walked over to Clary.

"Jace was asking if everything was all right." Clary said, putting the cell phone in her pocket again.

"And it is. Now we have to get back to NY," Natalie said, running her hands through her light dress.

"What about my brother?" Clary muttered looking at Natalie.

"He's going to get stuck while the Clave has a meeting to decide what they're going to do with him.”

"And I can’t see him, I imagined that. So let's go, there's nothing left to do here." Clary said and walked out into the hall.

Alec realized that the girl was upset, after all, it was her brother, but he had surrendered to Clave in front of everyone and now they thought he was a traitor.

The three of them went to the Lightwood house, which was the closest to where they were and left Natalie opening the portal that would take them back to New York.

Already in New York, they fell outside the Institute. Clary wiped her hands and opened the doors of the Institute.

Natalie greeted everyone and thanked them for having worried about her, it was not all Nephilim who would risk himself to save a warlock.

Alec went to the kitchen with Magnus and prepared something for himself to eat, even because he had stayed three days, plus the time he spent in Idris, eating nothing and his stomach was killing him.

"Magnus, I want to go home," Alec said as he finished eating and tidying up everything he had stirred in the Institute kitchen.

Lightwood noticed Jace's gaze on him, didn’t understand why, but imagined it was because Alec said he wanted to go home.

Magnus took Alec's hand and squeezed it lightly, in a gesture of affection.

"Here’s not my home. Not anymore.” Alec said firmly, but there was a sad tone in his voice.


	24. Snowdrop

**_S_** **_nowdrop_ **

_Thank you,_ _affection, hope, humility, gentleness,_

_everlasting love._

_We could rule the world someday, somehow;_ _  
_ _But we'll never be as bright as we are now;  
We're standing in a light that won't fade;_ _  
_ _Tomorrow's coming, but this won't change;_ _  
_ _Cause some days stay gold forever;  
The memory of being here with you;_ _  
_ _Is one I'm gonna take my life through;_ _  
_ _Cause some days stay gold forever;_ _  
_ _Promise me you'll stay the way you are;_ _  
_ _Keep the fire alive and stay young at heart;_

_[..]_

_When the innocence is dead and gone,_ _  
_ _These will be the times we look back on._

It was Noah's sixth birthday, and since last year Magnus and I had been talking about going to throw a party for him.

Jace and Isabelle have helped that decision, even because they put it in Noah's head they would throw a costume party for him, but as always ended up leaving me to do everything.

"Anne, you know it's a costume party, right?" I asked looking at Anne who had come through the door carrying a cloak over her back.

"That's why I'm carrying this, Alec." She said putting the cover on my bed. "What are you wearing?"

"Prince Charming." She frowned at me and I’m not sure why I let Isabelle choose my costume.

"I believe that makes me Snow White." Magnus said coming out of the bathroom with a black overcoat.

"I wouldn’t complain about having you as my Snow White, Magnus." I blinked at him, who answered me with a smile on the corner of his mouth.

"Years and years of third wheeling for both of you and that makes me the Evil Queen." Anne murmured, opening the zipper of the black dress cloak she'd left on my bed.

"What should this fantasy be, Magnus?" I asked ignoring Anne's exclamations.

"I'm Sherlock Holmes." Magnus said in a fake British accent.

"Oh, I believe I can be your John Watson." I said pulling Magnus through the overcoat and leaving a kiss on his lips.

"Elementary, my dear Alec." Magnus whispered staring into my eyes, before kissing my lips again.

"And I'm Greg Lestrade in the middle of this story." Anne said looking at us both ugly. "Get out of here so I can change."

Magnus and I looked at each other.

 

"You know you are in our room, right?" I asked, folding my arms.

"Yes, I know, go to your son's party, it's not like I'm going to fill the bedroom with spiders." Anne shrugged and Magnus and I left.

Magnus laughed softly when we were in the hallway and took my hand. I stared into his eyes and he stopped laughing, looking at our hands together.

"Can you believe that our son is already six years old? It seems like yesterday that you gave me your phone number at your parents' flower shop." I spoke and he smiled weakly.

"And you didn’t call me!" Magnus said pretending to be angry

"Because I had broke up with Mark on the same day! But I regret every day for not calling."

I placed my hands on his face and kissed his soft lips, his hands going up to my waist, leaving our bodies glued together.

"I love you, Magnus." I said when our kiss was over. "That I will never regret."

"And I love you, too." Magnus murmured softly in my ear. "We'd better get down because your bow it's gone, I'm pretty sure it was Jace or Mark who got it and is teaching the kids how to shoot their annoying neighbor."

"Jace doesn’t know how to shoot well with a bow, but he’s too stubborn to say that, I bet Mark more." I said as we both descended the stairs.

"Maybe it's both."

Downstairs, children's music played and there were several children in Noah's class playing in the yard.

When Noah was born and came to live with us, Magnus thought it best to move to a home where he would be bigger and more comfortable to live with a child.

"It's both together." Magnus said pointing to Jace and Mark who were holding my bow and teaching the children to throw an apple. "I was right."

"I'll take that bow and put arrows in their ears." I said rolling my eyes and going where they were

"Honestly I thought you were going to say that you would put it somewhere else." Magnus said and I narrowed my eyes.

"I would say that if I wasn’t in public." He laughed and went to talk to Isabelle.

I walked over to where Jace and Mark were surrounded by children and stood behind them with their arms crossed.

"I think Uncle Alec is mad at you." Ivy said laughing and looking at me. "Uncle Jace and Uncle Mark are in trouble."

Ivy was dressed up as Poison Ivy. I thought Helen and Aline had dressed her because of her name, it would actually make sense.

"Thank you, Ivy." I smiled at the little girl. "My bow, seriously? You're at a party full of kids!"

"I thought it would fit in with my fantasy. I'm Robin Hood and no one told you to leave it as a piece of decoration." Mark said giving me the bow.

"Looks like Peter Pan." Jace murmured and Mark punched him in the arm. "I thought you didn’t listen."

I rolled my eyes and went back into the house to guard my bow. I saw Anne coming down the stairs, she was wearing a long, light blue dress, her hair was with two strands of hair behind her head and the rest was loose. In her dress, she had a dragon pendant.

"Wow, you look beautiful." I spoke and she thanked me. "Let me see if I'm right, Daenerys Targaryen?"

"Daenerys of the House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, The Unburnt, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Protector of the Realm, Lady Regnant of the Seven Kingdoms, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons!”

“Oh, not again.” She started laughing.

“I wore this dress at one of my father's company parties and I thought about wearing it again, it just needed some adjustments, but what are you doing with that bow?"

"It looked great as a decoration and I'm hiding it from Jace and Mark who were teaching kids how to use it."

"I figured that would happen."

I put my bow inside the room and locked it, went back to the party and Jace came to me.

"He's going to make a great Shadowhunter, you know that, don’t you?" Jace said sitting in the chair next to me and holding the cover of his Batman costume.

"Only if he wants to, Jace, I won’t force him to do anything." I spoke and Jace sighed as we both looked at Noah playing with one of his school friends.

"And you think he will?"

"I don’t know, Noah's just a kid." I said with a sideways glance at Jace. "He can’t even decide which flavor of ice cream he likes the most."

"I don’t know how to choose it either, Alec, how people expect us to choose only one when it has a huge variety of different colors, flavors and textures?" Jace said crossing his arms.

Sometimes I think Jace is a child that only the body has grown, which proves to be true most of the time.

"I already expected that from you."

"And what does that mean?" Jace asked, looking confused.

When I went to answer it, Helen and Aline arrived with Aurora with their fantasy, the two had insisted so much to dress it that Magnus ended up letting them.

She was in a red and black garment like a court jester and her eyes were painted a dark color on her cheek had a heart drawn with eye pencils and her hair was tied in a little maria with the tips of each side painted .

"What did you two do to my daughter?" I asked rising from the chair and catching Aurora from her lap.

"Dad, I'm Harley Quinn, Daddy." She said shaking her hands excitedly.

"She’s not cute? Of course Harley is totally crazy in comics, but why not make her cute?" Helen said squeezing Aurora's cheek.

"I think you two need another child to upset." I spoke and looked at Aurora in my lap, her blue eyes sparkling with amusement.

"Let go of me, Daddy." She said and I put her down, the next second she was running through the yard.

" _Don’t run_." I tried to talk. "That never works."

"I said they'd be cute, Aline." Helen said looking at Aurora and Ivy, who played together.

"Now I understand everything." Jace said with half-closed eyes to Aline and Helen.

Six years ago, when I told Isabelle that Magnus and I were looking for a  surrogate mother to have a child, she got super excited and said that if Magnus were the giver, she would be happy to donate eggs for the child to have Magnus's DNA and mine, although the first time I found a totally crazy idea, Magnus and I accepted and Noah ended up coming to the world.

He had light brown eyes and Asian eyes like Magnus and the dark hair on the Lightwood side. I remember we both fell in love with that little boy right away.

With  Aurora, it was different. Magnus insisted that I be the giver and I agreed, Amber, who was then twenty-one years old, ended up wanting to be a part too. And three years after Noah, Aurora joined us

She had Asian eyes like brother and blues, just like mine.

Magnus and I ended up thinking that Noah would feel jealous, but he loved the idea of having a sister. Isabelle said she would suffer in the future having two dads, a brother and several uncles in her life, but I didn’t think so, because she – Isabelle --  had two brothers, without mentioning Jace, and several other men in her life and no one ever took care of her life.

"Hey, Alec." Max said reaching out arm in arm with Livvy. "No use talking about fantasy with her because she's totally stubborn."

"Max! I have a costume! Look at the red horns in my head, I'm a little devil." Livvy said pointing at her tiara. "Besides, it's hard to find fantasy that looks good on you when you're pregnant. Unless I chose to be a baskett ball"

"Don’t talk about my son like that." Max said, and Livvy snorted, saying she was going to find something sweet to eat.

Almost a year after I recovered my memories, the two of them went back to dating, and when no one else expected they were married. I still remember the huge speech that Max had to hear from Mark, for him to take care of his little sister at the wedding party

I think he would have made a speech when Livvy said she was expecting a child, but I'm sure Julian did not let Mark do it.

Max murmured something about Livvy getting sick and went after her.

"Hi, love." Magnus said appearing at my side. "I brought it for you," he said, showing a brigadiero.

"Thank you." I took the brigadeiro and bit him.

"Come on, Angel, you need to relax. You look like a robot who saves lives." Magnus said squeezing my shoulders.

"But what if they get hurt?" I mumbled, looking at Magnus.

"They're kids, Alec, they're going to get hurt, it's normal. What's not normal is you standing there like a human statue." He said looking at Noah, who was playing with his friends. "Come on, your mother is here."

"My mom?" I asked, frowning. "I thought she wasn’t coming."

"Alec, it's her grandchildren. Of course she’s going to show up, at least for a few minutes." Magnus said taking my arm and taking me to where she was.

My mother had Aurora in her arms while she gave her something to eat. Magnus winked at me and walked over to where Anne was.

"Hi, mom." I told her when she left Aurora on the floor.

"She's a little angel, you know, Noah, too. You and Magnus are doing a great job with the kids." Maryse spoke up from her chair.

"I try to do my best." He said with a slight smile on his lips. "Go play with Ivy, sweetie.”  Aurora nodded and went to Ivy, who was playing with Kit and Ty.

"I always imagined you giving me grandchildren, you know?" She told me as the two of us watched Noah and Aurora play. "It was not the way I imagined it, but it's still good and I love my grandchildren. And soon I'll have one more, which makes me think I'm getting old."

I giggled and she tapped lightly on my arm.

"It's not funny, Alec. You'll see when Aurora and Noah have children, you'll feel that way too."

"I hope it will be a long time, especially for Aurora." I spoke and realized that Isabelle was right when she said that Aurora would suffer having two dads.

I saw that it would be six o'clock in the afternoon and it was already time for cake or it would be too late. I looked for Isabelle and Magnus and called them to tell them that we were going to have the cake.

Magnus and I stayed with Noah behind the cake table and underneath the track written by Noah Lightwood-Bane. Since he was still small, he couldn’t reach the candles, so I had to pick him up. Magnus thought Aurora would be jealous and called her to stay with the three of us.

Anne lit the candles and they all began to sing congratulations to Noah, who was clapping cheerfully on my lap.

"Make a wish." She whispered in his ear to blow the candles out.

"Ready." Noah said after blowing out the candles.

"What did you want?" I asked Noah while Magnus and I cut the cake

"That you and dad always be happy with me and Aurora and a pony." Noah said biting a piece of the cake and getting his nose frosty with frosting.

I smiled wiping his nose

"But the pony is not the most important." He spoke smiling and I hugged him.

"I know." I spoke and I let go. "Shall we give cake to your friends?" Noah nodded.

We handed it to everyone and the last one was Nicolas, he had the Sight and Noah asked to go it alone. Jace told me it was because his grandmother had an affair with a Nephilim and ended up getting pregnant and since then the Nephilim blood runs through the family.

"For you, Nico." Noah said delivering one of the pieces of cake to Nicolas.

"Thank you, Noah." Nico said shyly, perhaps because Magnus and I were close.

Magnus looked at me from the corner.

"Do you think Clave is going to go after him?" Magnus asked.

"I think they will, they always go after Nephilims." I answered, taking his hand.

The boy frowned and looked at Noah, blinked a few times and put his right hand on Noah's shoulder.

"You'll have a bright future, Noah." Nico said and Noah was a little startled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the song at the beginning, its gold forever from the wanted
> 
>  
> 
> i miss them


	25. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

 

It was at nine o'clock that night when Noah rang the bell of his parents' house.

It was late, he knew, but there was nowhere else Noah thought of going. There was nowhere else he could go.

When Alec heard the noise of the doorbell he thought it odd, he thought maybe Magnus and Lea had forgotten the keys, but he remembered that it was he who had put the keys in the pocket of his husband's pants.

Noah wiped his sweaty hands on the pants he was wearing and watched the door being opened by his father.

"Noah?" Alec asked confused.

"Hi, dad." Noah said and Alec realized that something was wrong with him. "I know it's late, but I couldn’t think of anyone else."

"You know you can always show up here, Noah." Alec said giving Noah a chance to enter the house. "It's not like I don’t know the schedules of a Shadowhunter."

Noah laughed softly, a little embarrassed. Sometimes he forgot that his father had been part of the shadow world before he was born.

"So, tell me what happened." Alec said as they sat down on the couch.

Noah was in the black and leather clothes of the hunt at night, it was obvious that he was working something out before coming home. Alec noticing the Branwell family ring on his finger.

"I was talking to Uncle Jace earlier in the week and... He and the rest of the Council told me to be Consul." Noah said nervously. "This is crazy, is not it? I'm only twenty-four, I can’t be responsible to everyone ..."

Alec raised an eyebrow in surprise. He knew Jace was the Inquisitor, but he did not think he would indicate Noah to be Consul.

"What did your fiance say to you? I mean, if you talked to him." Alec said and Noah became frightened.

"How do you know Nico and I are engaged?" Noah asked turning the ring on his finger.

"The ring with the Branwell family symbol on your finger and I imagine the Lightwood family is with him, but what did he say?"

"Yes, it's with him. Nico said he would support me with anything I did, but he cannot tell me what to do because it's my decision. And if I say yes, it’ll go to the board for a vote and I think they will vote for me."

"It's your life, you have to make your own ways. If Jace thinks you would be a good consul and pointed it out out to the Council, it is because he’s sure of it. "

"You think?" Noah asked after sighing.

"I'm sure." Alec said with a brief smile on his lips. "I don’t know why, but I would never think that the Council would appoint you to this office because of me. It is not as if they had forgotten what I did."

"Uncle Jace said the same thing." Noah spoke as he stared at the wall in front of them. "I have to go to Idris by the end of the week and attend the Meeting on Saturday, so I have time to think."

"Just don’t leave it to the last hour."

"I won’t. I promise."

Alec nodded with satisfaction.

"Do you want to spend the night here or are you going back to the Institute?"

"I think I'm going to stay here, I’m missing you, dad and Leah.”

"They went to the movies and left me here all alone." Alec said thoughtfully.

Noah laughed internally remembering that his father always had a way of being dramatic, maybe he'd learned this from Jace.

“I think Leah must have some boyfriend and she doesn’t want me to know."

"She must be afraid that you make the same speech as when you discovered that Aurora was dating that boy from her school."

"And I was right, wasn’t? The boy had only ulterior motives with her."

Less than half an hour later, Magnus, Leah, and a boy neither Alec nor Noah knew came home.

"Dad, this is Steven, my boyfriend." Leah said half shyly, looking at the dark boy next to her, who looked totally frightened.

Maybe it was because a man of almost 6'3", extremely serious blue eyes was staring at him. Magnus bit his lip to laugh and Leah ran a hand through the curls in her hair.

"Hi, Mr. Lightwood, nice to meet you." Steven said holding out Alec's hand.

"Hello, Steven, and you can call me Alec." He said shaking the boy's hand, with a less deadly expression.

Leah sighed in relief and Noah cleared his throat.

"This is my brother, Noah, I have no idea why he's here." Leah said looking at him out of the corner of her eyes.

"If you hurt her, you know." Noah said passing the stele through his throat. Alec started to laugh.

Steven was probably seeing it like a knife and was kind of scared.

"Noah, save it." Magnus said crossing his arms and Noah put the stele on his belt. "We're not wild and you're scaring Steven."

"I’m sorry, Dad." Noah murmured, but he saw Alec wink at him in approval. Magnus saw the scene and rolled his eyes.

 

**_*_ **

****

It was the weekend of Magnus and Alec's twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, and Alec had taken his husband to the house on the beach where they had been married. Magnus didn’t know, of course, he had a blindfold, which made him very curious.

"Seriously, Alec, why do I have to use this?" Magnus said for the thousandth time as they walked down the sidewalk.

"Because if you take it off, dear, it will spoil the surprise." Alec said as he held Magnus by the arm.

Magnus fell silent on the subject and began to talk about how totally strange it was to have only Alec's hands guiding him and the confidence that this should pass to him.

"Magnus, you look like an old fuddy duddy." Alec said as they were facing the house.

"And you love me anyway." Magnus said with a smile and Alec sighed, knowing that this was true.

"We're here." Alec said getting behind Magnus and taking off Magnus’ blindfold.

Magnus blinked a few times to get accustomed to the light and was shocked when he saw the house the two of them had married at.

"Alec..." Magnus muttered wrapping his fingers around Alec, who was smiling at his side. "I didn’t know you still had the key."

"I didn’t, actually. I had to ask Anne." Alec said taking the key in the pocket of his pants. "I thought it would be romantic to come back here, after all this time, it was the place where we got married, twice."

Alec remembered the second marriage, it had been his idea, since the first time he didn’t even remember who he was. The result was all his family (except his father, who was no longer among them), plus Magnus at the wedding, Aurora as the florist and Noah delivering the rings.

"Come on, let's get our stuff in there and go to the beach." Alec said, hugging Magnus and going to the car, which was across the street.

The two left their luggage inside the house and went to the beach. It was almost late afternoon, so there were not a lot of people, just a few talking couples and teenagers dating.

"Do you think Leah’s all right?" Magnus asked as they walked side by side, on the edge of the beach.

"I'm sure she is. The Institute is very safe, well, from a certain point of view." Alec said frowning.

"You're not helping me, Alec." Magnus said seriously and Alec chuckled softly.

"Noah and Aurora are there, Magnus, they won’t let anything happen to her."

"She's only fifteen ..." Alec interrupted.

"And she knows how to take care of herself." The brunette said taking Magnus' chin, pulling him closer as he kissed him.

"Feels like it was yesterday that we brought her home from the orphanage." Magnus said when the kiss ended. "She was so small."

Alec closed his eyes, knowing that Magnus was too owlish a father, even remembered the other thing he had planned.

"Magnus, there's one more thing. I was just going to tell you this tomorrow, but it will be worth it." Alec said taking Magnus' hand and leading him away from the water.

They sat on the sand and Magnus glanced at Alec, who had a paper he had just taken from his pocket.

"What's up, Angel?" Magnus asked looking at the paper, curious.

"It's a good thing ... I'll just talk. I know how we both love children, after all, we already have three, who are already very old and two of them, in a way, are far."

"Where do you want to go with this?"

"Calm down, Magnus, I'll get there." Magnus nodded and Alec continued. "Last month I had an idea and I started an adoption process and at the beginning of the week, we had already done that with Leah, so it was easier." Alec said and handed the paper to Magnus.

Magnus opened the paper and it was a document of adoption, Alec had already signed, only his was missing.

"If you sign it now, we can go to the orphanage on Monday. I mean, only if you want."

"Are you sure about that?" Magnus asked, looking into Alec's blue eyes.

“Aurora and Noah wanted to go to the Institute, Lea is going to college soon, at least that's what I expect, and I miss having a child around the house."

Magnus was silent for a few seconds, which made Alec rather uncomfortable.

"You don’t want?" Alec asked and Magnus took a deep breath.

"It's just that I never imagined you would do all this without me knowing." Magnus said and Alec breathed a sigh of relief.

"I admit I had a little help from Lea in all this." Magnus smiled slightly. "So you want?"

"Of course I want." Magnus said excitedly.

 

*

 

Magnus was on his laptop, about to accept a video chat from Leah on Skype when Alec entered the room with the towel tied around his waist and humming a familiar song.

"You are teasing me." Magnus said in a whistle.

"I would never do that." Alec winked at him and put on the clothes. "Now stop looking at me and accept Leah's invitation. She must be thinking that you slept on top of the computer."

"But I don’t do that." Magnus said frowning.

"Yes, you do." Alec said sitting next to Magnus in bed and accepting Leah's video call.

"Thank God, I was already calling an ambulance for you both." Lea said right away when it appeared on the screen.

"There were some, um, _setbacks_." Magnus said, clearing his throat. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, taking away the fact that I must have gotten lost within this Institute a dozen times today." Leah said thoughtfully. "And that Ivy was trying to teach me how to use a Seraph blade and it didn’t work very well."

"Did you hurt yourself?" Alec asked, somewhat worried, Leah, unlike the brothers, had no Nephilim blood, so moving on with these things was more dangerous, however much she had the Sight.

"No, I'm fine. I just pulled a muscle in my leg, but I used the ointment that Aurora gave me and it’s fine." Leah said and Aurora appeared beside her.

"Hi." She said excitedly.

Magnus and Alec realized that she was different from the last time they had seen her.

It still looked like that little girl with blue eyes and dark hair that ran around the house with a teddy bear, but at the same time she had an older, stronger expression, the runes stood out on her skin, especially the parabatai rune which was close to her collarbone.

Aurora and Ivy became parabatai shortly after Aurora went to the Institute. Since they were small they had been very friendly despite the difference of three years of age, but just like Alec and Jace when they were parabatai, that never got in the way.

"Hi, Dad." Noah said coming out of nowhere and sitting next to Leah and Aurora. "I can’t believe you did _not_ call me."

"I tried, but you and Nico looked really busy, if you know what I mean."

Alec thought he did not need to know that and Noah turned red, Magnus seemed to pretend that he had not heard anything. Leah and Aurora looked at each other.

"Oh, my bad. You should have knocked on the door." Noah said stuttering. "I have made a decision and I will accept the work of Consul. I think I can do a good job."

 

*

 

"Did you know Noah's getting married?" Alec said looking at Magnus, who was lying next to him.

"With Nicolas? I knew, he told me." Magnus murmured and Alec snorted.

"Why am I always the last to know things?"

"I don’t know, I think the kids are afraid you'll get your bow and arrow and shoot them out there."

"You saying this sounds like I'm the Kevin from _We Need to Talk About Kevin_."

"Never! That Kevin was a psychopath, you're my angel." Grumpy sometimes, but still my little angel. "

"I love it when you call me that." Alec smiled at Magnus as he placed his hand on Alec's face.

"And I love you." Magnus said, with the same glint in his eyes that the day they were married, leaving a kiss on the lips of his husband.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for everyone who read this so far!

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this whole fanfiction in portuguese and it was one of my most beautiful works, like everyone who read it on wattpad loved it and i wanted to post it here too
> 
> so, (if someone read this) if there's any mistakes with the grammar because english isnt my first language and its a bit difficult to translate portuguese to english, because there's somethings that I cant put on literally, tell me in here or on my twitter @jungthorn


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